Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Color Purple Movie Script
[CHILDREN SINGING AND CLAPPING]
[CHILDREN LAUGHlNG]
[SINGING] Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Celie! Nettie!
Come back to the house now.
Girls, your mama got supper.
Celie, you got the ugliest smile
this side of Creation.
[SOBBING AND SCREAMING]
Ain't you done yet?
[BABY CRYING]
A girl!
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]
No.
-I want it.
-Shh. Celie.
Nettie!
[CELIE SOBBlNG]
You better not tell nobody but God.
It'd kill your mama.
CELIE:
Dear God, I'm 1 4 years old.
I've always been a good girl.
Maybe you can give me a sign.
Let me know what's happening to me.
One day, my daddy come and say,
"You gonna do what your mama wouldn't."
Now, I got two children by my daddy.
A baby boy called Adam,
he took while l was sleeping...
...and a baby girl called Olivia...
...that he took right out of my arms.
Then my mama died...
...cussing and screaming...
...because her heart been broke.
Dear God, he act like
he can't stand me no more.
I don't think he killed my baby boy.
I heard he sold it
to a preacher and his wife.
I keep hoping
he'll find somebody to marry.
I seen him looking at my little sister.
She's scared.
But I say, "I'll take care of you,
with God's help."
BOY 1 : Come on! Push!
BOY 2: Hurry up! Hurry!
BOY 3: Come on, guys!
BOY 4: Hurry up!
BOY 5:
Shh! Shh!
CELIE: Dear God, he come home with a girl
from around the town called Gray.
She be almost my age,
but they getting married now.
My little sister, Nettie, has got
a man always looking at her.
His wife's dead. She was killed by her
boyfriend, coming home from church.
He got three children.
He seen Nettie in church.
Now every Sunday evening,
here come Mister.
PREACHER: lt is therefore not to be
entered into lightly or unadvisedly...
...but reverently and soberly
and in the fear of God. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we ask your blessing
on our brother, Harris!
Amen!
CONGREGATION:
Amen!
[MOOS]
I want to marry your Nettie.
I got to have somebody right now.
I got nobody to watch over
my young ones.
They be fighting and bleeding
and throwing up on the floor...
...whiIe I got a farm to run.
I'll take right good care of your Nettie.
I can't let you have Nettie.
She too young.
But l tell you what.
I can let you have CeIie.
She oldest and shouId marry first.
She ain't fresh,
but I expect you know that.
She's spoiled, twice.
Celie is ugly but she works hard,
and she can Iearn.
And God fixed her.
You can do what you like.
She won't make you feed or clothe it.
But Nettie, you flat out can't have.
Not now, not never.
Well, I ain't never Iooked
at the other one before.
Let me see her again.
PA:
Celie, Mister want another look at you.
Move up. He won't bite.
Turn around.
What you doing that for?
Your sister's thinking about marriage.
ALBERT: How come y'all standing
out here. What you waiting on?
-This here's your new mammy.
-She ain't my mammy.
[LAUGHlNG]
ALBERT:
Harpo! Come here!
Harpo! Get here! Come here, boy!
Come here. Come here.
Harpo! Don't you run from me, boy!
[RATTLING]
[ALBERT MOANING]
[ALBERT GRUNTS]
CELIE:
I don't cry.
I laid there thinking about Nettie
while he on top of me.
Wonder if she's safe.
Then I think about
that pretty woman in the picture.
I know what he doing to me,
he done to her.
And maybe she like it.
Jesus!
[SQUEAKING]
Harpo, didn't I tell you
to clean my saddle?
HARPO:
I did do it, Pa.
Look at the mold on the side.
Look at the dirt on it.
This don't look like it's cIean.
The new mule had it on. Joey, had it.
I couldn't get it from him.
-He was biting and kicking on it.
-Ow! Ow! Ow!
When's the last time
their hair was combed?
Not since their mammy did it.
Go clean my saddle.
I'll have to shave it off.
No, no, no.
It's bad Iuck to cut a woman's hair.
This'll take all day.
Shut up!
-I can't. It hurts her.
-Ow! Ow! Ow!
-Ahh!
ALBERT: Don't talk back to me.
You do what I tell you.
[MUFFLED YELLING]
CELIE:
Dear God, I seen my baby girl.
I know it was her.
She looked just like me and my daddy.
Like more us than us is ourself.
My little girl looks like
she fretting over something.
She got my eyes, just like they is today.
Like everything l see, she's seeing.
STORE CLERK:
How are you today?
Thank you.
[CHATTERlNG]
That's real pretty.
Yes. I'm making me
and my little girl a new dress.
Her daddy will be so pleased.
Who her daddy?
Mr. Samuel.
Mr. Samuel. Who he?
The reverend Mr. Samuel.
You want that cloth or not?
We got other customers.
Yes, sir. I want five yards, sir.
-You want something, gal?
-No, sir!
How long you had your little girI?
She be seven months on the fifteenth.
Can l hold her?
If you like.
Watch her head now. Be careful.
There you go.
CELIE:
I think she mine.
My heart say she mine.
But l don't know if she mine.
If she my baby, her name Olivia.
I stitch "Olivia" on all the seat
of her diapers.
I stitch a lot of little flowers
and stars too.
He took all the diapers when he took her.
What's her name?
Pauline.
But l calls her Olivia.
-Come on, sweetie. Come on.
-Olivia.
-Come on. Come on.
-Olivia.
Olivia.
Whys you calI her Olivia
when that ain't her name?
Don't she look Iike an Olivia to you?
Just look at those eyes.
Only somebody old
would have eyes like that.
So l caIl her Ole Livia.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, nice talking to you.
My husband's waiting.
You gonna buy anything or not, gal?
Whoa, whoa.
I thank you, sir.
-Give these to Mr. Johnson.
-Yes, sir.
Nettie!
Celie!
Nettie!
Celie!
[SQUEALS]
I'm so glad to see you!
I just couIdn't keep him off me.
Could l stay here with you?
Can Nettie stay with us for a spell?
ALBERT:
Sure. She be kin now.
What happened with you and Pa?
NETTIE:
I just couIdn't keep him off me.
He'd try everything.
You know how he is.
I ain't never going back there!
You hear what l say? I'd die first, CeIie.
CELIE:
Hush now!
Don't let them run over you.
Show them who's got the upper hand.
They got it.
You got to fight, Celie. You got to.
I don't know how to fight.
All I know how to do is stay alive.
You sure look pretty today, Nettie.
Celie, my boy be needing his supper.
Sure is a pretty dress you have on.
NETTIE: Oh, Nettie,
you have such nice skin...
...and such soft, beautiful hair.
[CELIE LAUGHS]
And you smell so good
when I sit close to you. And your teeth....
CELIE:
He talk about your teeth?
NETTIE:
Yeah, about how bright they shine.
[GIGGLING]
Celie! My boy wants supper. The kitchen
needs cleaning. The cow needs milking.
My shirt needs mending. My pants
need fixing. My shoes need shining.
My children need feeding.
And when you're tired...
...l'm gonna climb on top of you
and do my business...
...before you can say, "Amen."
You're gonna have to leave
here soon...
...before he make his move on you.
No.
What would I do if l couldn't talk to you?
CELIE:
We could write.
NETTIE: Can you read good?
-I can't say that l do.
NETTIE:
I'll go to school for both of us.
CELIE: We'Il both learn real hard
before he breaks us apart.
NETTIE:
Yes!
[LAUGHS]
-"Apples."
-Apples. A-P-P-L-E-S. Apples.
-Apples.
-Uh-huh.
"Iron."
-Iron. I-R-O-N. Iron.
-Iron.
CELIE:
Kettle. K-E-T-T-L-E.
Kettle. Uh-huh.
-Eggs. E-G-G-S. Eggs.
-Uh-huh.
-Shelf. S-H-E-L-F.
-Uh-huh.
-Honey. H-O-N-E-Y.
-Uh-huh.
Jar. J-A-R. Jar.
Window. W-I-N-D-O-W. Window.
-Uh-huh.
-H-A-I-R.
Yeah!
CELIE: A-R-M. Arm.
-Yes, Celie!
CELIE:
Sleeve. S-L-E-E-V-E. Sleeve.
NETTIE:
And these?
[GIGGLES]
Stocking.
What's it say, Celie?
Mister.
M-I-S-T-E-R period.
Ain't you got nothing better to do?
CELIE:
"For the next eight or ten months...
...Oliver was the vicient--
victim of a sesum"...
NETTIE: Systematic.
CELIE: What's "systematic" mean?
It be like when you have a way
of doing stuff the same way all the time.
Like how we hang the sheets
first so we can put the socks in the cracks.
Now us never be apart.
[CELIE YELPS]
Ahh!
[LAUGHlNG]
BOTH: [SINGlNG] Me and you
Us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us have one heart
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
[ALBERT CHUCKLES]
[ALBERT HUMMING]
ALBERT [SlNGS]:
Good morning
I got to go to school.
What you doing?
No! Please!
Please, please, please!
No! No! No!
No!
[NETTIE WHlMPERS
& ALBERT CHUCKLES]
[THUMP & ALBERT SCREAMS]
[NETTIE SCREAMING]
No! No! No!
[GRUNTS AND PANTS]
I'll get you!
Let her stay. Please let her stay.
I'll do anything for you! Let her stay!
-Now get the hell out of my house!
-Please let her stay!
Let her stay!
NETTIE:
No! No! No!
You ain't never coming back here!
-Get out of here!
-No!
No! No!
Get off my land!
[SCREAMS]
Get off my land!
You ain't welcome no more.
Celie!
KID 1 : What's he doing?
KID 2: Leave! We don't need to know.
CELIE: Nettie!
Please! No!
-Stop!
-Nettie!
Nettie!
Why?
Why? Why?
Why? Ahh!
-Write!
-What?
Write!
Nothing but death can keep me from her!
Please...
...don't go.
Celie!
[SINGING]
You and me, us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada
[SINGING lNCOHERENTLY]
Get off my land!
Nothing but death can keep me from her!
Nettie.
Two days. Heh.
My Shug gonna be here and everything
gonna be the way it should.
Come on, girl. I'm waiting for you.
You cut me and I'll kill you.
[BUZZES]
[LAUGHS]
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
Whoa. Whoa. Whoop, whoop.
Ahh!
The maiI.
Shug! Shug, l'm coming!
-Harpo, saddle my horse!
HARPO: Yes, sir!
Is there a Ietter from Nettie?
Ain't nothing for you.
I don't never want
you messing with that mailbox!
That's my business!
I fixed that mailbox so I can telI
if it be messed with! Understand?
-Harpo! Ain't you saddled that horse yet?
-Yes, sir!
I'm getting to it. I'm getting to it.
Celie, I'm going out for a spell,
and l want my supper when I get back!
Yes, sir.
[SNlFFLES]
"For the next eight...
...or ten...
...months...
...Oliver was the victim of a...
...systematic...
...course of treachery.
[IN DEEPER VOICE] For the next eight
or ten months...
...Oliver was the victim
of a systematic course...
...of treachery and deception."
He was brought up by hand.
The hungry and destitute situation
of the infant orphan was duly"--
ALBERT:
Celie!
Come help me get ready!
Come on! I'll be late!
You hear me call you?
-Yes, sir?
ALBERT: Celie, ain't that good comb...
...with my other brushes?
Harpo, ain't that horse saddled?
Yes, sir, Pa. Yes, sir.
I's getting to it. I's getting to it.
Georgie!
Too much grease.
Celie!
I don't use this kind of grease!
This grease for slopping hogs!
It ain't for no hair!
You gonna make me late!
I'm gonna get you if you make me late!
Where's my other bIack sock?
Where's my other bIack sock?
Oh, no! Oh!
-CeIie, don't forget to iron my shirt.
-Yes, sir.
ALBERT: Where's my black tie?
I mean the yellow one with black in it!
It's in there.
I don't see it!
Where's my suit pin?
-In the drawer.
-Is it on the shelf?
Uh-huh.
Is it the right side or the left side?
The left side?
The left.
Is this the right vest for my suit?
Shit.
Where's my blue--
Oh, here it is.
Which one?
The black one or the blue one?
I like the black one.
ALBERT:
Oh, no.
I hate this tie!
It don't go with nothing I got on!
I had a blue one....
Damn!
Hyah! Come on, come on. Hyah!
CELIE: She said she write,
but she never write.
She said only death
could keep her from me.
Maybe she dead.
[BARKING]
HARPO: Sofia, slow down!
Sofia, now slow down!
SOFIA: Harpo, I declare,
you is slow today!
CELIE: Dear God,
Harpo be in love with a girl called Sofia.
Now, she be a big girl.
Mister say he want to have a look at her.
I seen them coming way up the road.
They just be marching,
like going to war.
Pop, this here is Sofia.
Sofia is a pretty name, huh?
Sofia, Sofia, Sofia!
-Harpo.
-Us gonna get married.
Looks like you got yourself in trouble.
SOFIA:
I ain't in no trouble.
Big, though.
Who the daddy?
Harpo.
How does he know that?
He knows because he the only one!
Celie, get me some lemonade.
Young women no good these days.
Got their legs open for every Tom,
Dick and Harpo.
Don't think I'll let my boy marry you
just because you in the family way.
Ain't cold enough.
He young and limited. Pretty gal Iike you
could put anything over on him.
Why I need to marry Harpo?
He living here with you.
What food and cIothes he get,
you buy.
I know your daddy throwed you out.
Ready to live in the street.
No, sir, l ain't living in no streets.
I'm living with my sister
and her husband.
I can live with them
the rest of my life if I want to.
I don't need you to tell me how
to take care of me and my baby.
I can take care of my baby myself.
Nice visiting.
No, you stay right here, Harpo.
When you free,
me and the baby be waiting.
Well, look like somebody around here
know how to treat a visitor.
Harpo, don't you move one step.
Just don't make me wait too long, Harpo.
Harpo?
Harpo!
I won't! I will! I wiIl! I do.
KIDS:
I do!
I do.
PREACHER:
Now, Sofia.
Do you take this man to be your
lawful wedded husband?
To love, honor and cherish?
Forsaking all others for him alone...
...you will perform unto him
all duties owes to a husband...
...untiI death shaIl separate you?
I do!
You may now salute the bride.
CONGREGATION:
Amen!
[ORGAN MUSlC PLAYS
& PEOPLE CHATTER]
I's married now!
I's a married woman!
[INAUDIBLE WHlSPER]
I declare....
[CHATTERlNG]
SOFIA:
Come on, push now. Push now.
I been needing so many curtains,
but I ain't had time.
You children, get out of this yard.
Go on home!
Harpo, come on down here.
I need you to hold this baby.
I'm busy!
SOFIA: Busy making a racket.
Now come on down here!
Damn, Sofia! I'll come down
when I'm good and ready!
[GRUNTS]
I teIl you the truth! It is!
Child, we're going to get you
a littIe milk.
A little milk for the baby.
Yes, indeed.
Here. Go to your daddy.
What should I do with it?
Try feeding her, then fix up the mess
you done made here.
I can smell the rain coming.
Miss Celie, we got ourselves some
new curtains I want to put in the bedroom.
The living room
has already got itself some flowers.
What you looking at?
It's gonna rain on your head!
ALBERT:
You ever hit her?
No, sir.
How you expect her to mind?
Heh, heh.
Wives is like children.
You have to let them know
who got the upper hand.
Nothing can do it better
than a good beating.
Sofia thinks too much of herself.
Needs to be taken down a peg or two.
Got a new baby
and it cry all night long.
Kept him up so he said
he wasn't going to work.
She got all upset but l said,
"Leave the man alone.
Sometimes a man just needs
to be left alone."
I need something to eat!
Pie's in the pantry. Women need
to be left alone sometimes.
I teIl Harpo when I'm fussing,
"Leave me aIone!"
HARPO: Ain't you gonna get it for me?
-What's the matter with you?
[BABY CRYING]
That's my own baby crying. Lord.
Make yourself useful, Harpo.
Hush now, honey.
What am I gonna do about Sofia?
Beat her.
You told Harpo to beat me!
It was that mule, Old Joey.
Old Joey, the mule.
I was plowing the north field
and the mule went crazy.
He started kicking.
Busted my eye and my lip.
All my life I had to fight.
I had to fight my daddy,
I had to fight my uncles.
I had to fight my brothers.
Girl chiId ain't safe in a family of mens.
But l never thought I had to fight
in my own house!
I loves Harpo.
God knows I do.
But l'll kilI him dead
before I let him beat me!
-That's a hoof print.
-No, that look like a fist print.
No, sir. Ain't no fist touched my face.
No, sir.
You want a dead son-in-law, Miss Celie?
You keep on advising him
like you doing.
This life be over soon.
Heaven lasts always.
You shouId bash Mister's head open
and think about Heaven later.
[BABY CRYING
& HARPO WHlSTLING]
CELIE:
Sofia beat on Harpo.
Then Harpo beat on Sofia.
And then Sofia beat on Harpo
some more.
In between the beatings,
the children keep coming.
And then one day,
Sofia can't take it no more.
And good riddance!
CELIE:
Bye, CIarence!
Bye, Emma! Bye, Ruby!
Bye, Sofia! Bye!
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
Nettie.
ALBERT: Morning, Mr. HuntIey!
-Whoa.
Morning, Mr. Johnson.
I brung you some fresh-baked cookies
made in my stove!
-Thank you. They look good.
-Bring the plate back tomorrow.
Now giddyup! Giddyup!
Have a fine day, Mr. Huntley!
And keep the plate!
Anything come for me?
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[BARKS]
[MOOS]
[WHINNYING]
CELIE:
Dear God, today was a peculiar day.
I was sitting on the porch
reading to the kids...
...when all of a sudden,
something struck me.
I got up and looked at the sky.
It was dark
and there wasn't nothing moving.
I got down off the porch to see what
was coming. It felt like twister weather.
I didn't see nothing.
But I know something's there.
Yes, indeed, Lord.
I know something's coming.
[THUNDER CRASHES]
HARPO:
Pa! Who that, Pa? Who this?
Pa, who this?
The woman that shouId have been
your mammy.
Shug Avery?
Give me a hand and get her in the house.
Celie! Help me get her in the house.
Celie! Damn it! Get here!
Celie!
Hey, Celie! Get here!
Celie, this Shug Avery, a friend
of the family. Fix up the spare room.
CELIE:
I can't move.
I can't move. l need to see her eyes.
I feel that once l see her eyes,
my feet can let go...
...of where they're stuck.
You sure is ugly!
[LAUGHS]
Come on, now.
Turn loose my goddamn hand!
What's the matter with you? You crazy?
I don't need no weak Iittle boy...
...can't say no to his daddy,
hanging on me!
I need me a man! You hear?
A man!
[SHUG COUGHS AND WHEEZES]
And I don't want to smeIl
no goddamn stinking pipe, Albert!
Get that thing to make me
something to eat.
ALBERT:
No, no. I'll make it myself.
Albert?
Ahh! Shit!
[GROANS]
Eggs. SkiIlet.
Why you put the pots up here?
Nobody can get to them.
Butter, butter, butter.
It's in the cooler, on the shelf.
-Butter? Butter!
-Huh?
In the cooler, on the shelf.
Albert.
Ain't warm enough.
How do you work this stove?
Ain't hot enough.
Can't even keep a stove
burning good all day.
Can't even keep a oven hot!
You're useless sometimes!
Wood. Wood. Wood. Wood.
Ah.
Did you ever cook here?
It stiIl ain't hot enough!
I'll get it hot.
I'll show you how to make it hot.
Yeah.
[CANS BANGING AND RATTLING]
[FLAMES CRACKLE]
ALBERT:
Mm-mm!
Baby, look what l brought you.
Mm!
Baby, have I got a surprise for you.
This'll make you all well.
This got burnt, but the eggs
are just the way you like them.
SHUG:
Are you trying to kill me?
ALBERT:
No. Now, baby, don't be that way!
[DOOR SHUTS]
SHUG:
I toId you, I don't want nothing!
CELIE: I just stand back and wait to see
what the wall gonna look like.
See what kind of colors
Shug's gonna put on there now.
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
SHUG: What you staring at?
Never seen a naked woman before?
You got any children?
CELIE:
Yes, ma'am.
SHUG:
"Yes, ma'am"? l ain't that old.
Two.
Where they at?
I don't know.
Who are you?
Celie, ma'am.
[SHUG COUGHS]
You ain't well.
Mind your own goddamn business.
I feel just fine. Just had to eat.
Now, put some more bubbling oil
in this tub.
[SHUG CHUCKLES]
You got kids?
Yeah.
They with my ma and pa.
Never knowed a child to come out right
unless there's a man around.
Children...
...got to have a pa.
Your pa love you?
My pa loved me.
My pa still loves me...
...except he don't know it.
[CRYING]
He don't know it.
[SNlFFLES]
[CELIE HUMMlNG GOSPEL HYMN]
[SHUG HUMMING]
OLD MISTER:
Hey, boy! Here, boy!
Nobody here to greet your pa?
Sure ain't nobody in the fields,
that's for sure.
Just couldn't rest till you got her
in your house, couId you?
CELIE:
Cool drink?
Take your hat?
What is it with this Shug Avery?
She black as tar...
...nappy-headed....
She got Iegs like baseball bats.
Her own daddy won't have
nothing to do with her.
CELIE:
Old Mister talking trash about Shug.
Folks don't like nobody
being too proud or too free.
OLD MISTER:
She's no more than a jook-joint Jezebel.
She ain't even clean.
I hear she's got that
nasty women's disease.
You ain't got it in you to understand.
I love Shug Avery.
Always have, always will.
Should've married her when
I had a chance.
Yeah.
And throwed your life away. And a right
smart amount of money with it.
Plus, I hear all her children's
got different daddies.
It's all too trifling and confused.
All Shug's children got the same daddy.
I can vouch--
You can vouch for nothing!
Shug Avery done set the population
of Hartwell County a new high.
You just one of the roosters, boy.
Celie.
You has my sympathy.
Ain't many women's allow their
husband's whore to lay up in their house.
Celie.
Hand Pa his hat.
[BELCHES]
CELIE: Next time, l'll put
a little Shug Avery pee in his glass...
...and see how he like that.
CELIE: I ain't heard so much racket
since before Sofia left.
Every evening after he leave the field...
...he knocking down
and piling things up.
Sometime his friend Swain
come by to help.
Hey, Harpo!
Swain! Ahh!
CELIE: Two ofthem worked
long way past supper.
Mister have to call and tell them
to shut up the racket.
[PLAYING]
What you doing?
BuiIding a jook joint.
CELIE: Way back here?
-Yeah!
Jook joint's supposed to be
way back in the woods.
[CHATTERlNG]
HARPO:
You never seen this before.
-Now you close your eyes.
-Keep your eyes cIosed.
I know what a cow looks like.
You ain't never seen
a cow like this.
Yeah. Come on now! Come on.
BOTH:
Ready. One, two, three!
Ha, ha!
Look at that! Look at that!
[ALL LAUGHING]
[SWING MUSIC PLAYING
& PEOPLE CHATTERING]
Hey, welcome to Harpo's! I'm Harpo.
[SINGING] Yonder go yourpapa
Running down a field
Slipping and a sliding
Like an automobile
I hollered at Papa
And told him to wait
Slipped away from me
Like a Cadillac snake
'Cause he's the rottenest cheater
Girl, I'd drink your bath water!
Oh, sugar dumpling,
let me taste some! Aw, baby!
You can catch a fish
without a hook, girl.
SHUG: I like your uncle,
Like your brother too
I did like your pappy
But your pappy wouldn't do
I met your daddy
On the corner the other day
You know about that
That he was funny that way
Now he's a funny mistreater,
A robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Your pappy's, your cousin
And your mama do the Lordy, Lord
Now God made him an elephant
Made him stout
Wasn't satisfied till he made him a snout
Looks like Albert brought his maid.
Last time I saw that kind of hat
was at my mama's funeral.
SHUG: Wasn't satisfied until
He made him some eyes
Made him some eyes
Just to lose on the ground
Wasn't satisfied till he made his yes, yes
Made his yes, yes, yes
Whoo!
Wasn't satisfied till he made him sick
Made him sick, Lord
It made him well
You know about that
The elephant caught hell
'Cause he's a dirty mistreater
A robber and a cheater
Slip you in your dozens
Your papa's, your cousin
Mama, do the Lordy, Lord
Oh, Lordy, Lord!
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
PREACHER: There's only two kinds
of children in this world.
God's children and Satan's chiIdren.
Babylon ain't no far-off pIace
in the desert.
It's right here! Just a few hundred yards
from this holy pIace.
Whoo.
The song I'm about to sing...
...is called "Miss Celie's Blues."
[AUDIENCE CHUCKLES]
Because she scratched it
out of my head when I was aiIing.
[PLAYING]
[SHUG HUMMING]
Sister, you've been on my mind
Oh, sister, we're two of a kind
So sister
I'm keeping my eyes on you
I bet you think I don't know nothing
But singing the blues
Oh, sister, have I got news for you
I'm something
I hope you think
That you're something too
Oh, scuffling
I been up that lonesome road
And I seen a lot of suns going down
Oh, but trust me
No low life's gonna run me around
So let me tell you something, sister
Remember your name
No twister,
Gonna steal your stuff away
My sister
We sure ain't got a whole lot of time
So shake your shimmy, sister
[CROWD CHEERS AND WHISTLES]
Because honey this Shug
Is feeling fine
SOFIA: I know you don't beIieve it,
but I used to live here.
This used to be my living room.
That was my kitchen.
Harpo run the doors and windows
from the creek to here.
Now, somewhere is my dining room.
Lord, look at who's here. It's Miss Celie.
Miss Celie, it sure is good to see you.
PulI up a chair. Have a coId drink.
SOFIA: I believes I want me
some of this here.
I want to introduce y'all to my friend.
Henry Broadnax is his name.
Everybody call him Buster.
He's a good friend of the family.
How you doing? How you feel?
-Where are your children?
-At home. Where are yours?
BUSTER:
Lord have mercy!
[HARPO SCREAMS]
[SOFIA LAUGHlNG]
-Hey, Harpo.
SOFIA: Oh, Lord!
What you doing here?
I come to hear Miss Shug sing
and to see what a nice place you built.
This is scandalous!
A woman with children in a jook joint!
A woman need to have
a littIe fun, Harpo.
-A woman need to be at home.
-Hey, I don't fight my woman's battles.
My job is to love her
and take her where she want to go. Right?
That sure is, Buster.
Right, honey. You got it.
HARPO:
Let's dance.
First time l ever been knocked down
without throwing a punch.
[SOFIA CHUCKLES]
Be nice now.
-Be nice now.
-Ha, ha, ha. Yeah.
Harpo!
Who this woman?
You know who this is.
She best leave you alone.
Fine with me.
You ain't going nowhere.
This is my jook joint.
You said it's our jook joint!
Can't a man dance with his wife?
Not if she left him.
MAN:
Good night, y'all.
And not if he my man.
You just a big old heifer! Ha, ha, ha.
Like I said, fine with me.
CROWD:
Ohh.
Whoop. Time to go.
Ohh.
[SCREAMS]
-Sweetpea!
MAN: Hold on there! Hold on.
-Oh, shit!
-This is my place! Come on.
Get off my boy!
[GRUNTING AND CLAMORING]
What about me?
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on, I don't want to have
to come in after you.
Lord, have mercy! Firemen ain't
gonna get it, somebody call the Iaw!
You can light a fire without a match.
You can catch a fish without a hook.
You can make a blind man see.
Oh!
Now do your shimmy.
Shake your shimmy, girl!
Come on! Show me your stuff!
[GIGGLES]
Oh, Celie.
Miss Celie, why you always
covering up your smile?
Show me some teeth.
Show me that pretty smile.
Oh, girl, you need
a smiling lesson.
[SINGING] Made him stout
Wasn't satisfied till I made him a snout
Made him a snout
Just as long as a rail
Wasn't satisfied
Till I made him a tail
Made him a tail
Just a--
You see, Miss Celie,
you gots a beautifuI smile.
Well, Miss CeIie,
I do believe it's time for me to go.
September. Yeah, September be
a good time to go off in the world.
What's the matter?
He beat me when you ain't here.
Who do?
Albert?
Mister.
Why he do that?
[MUSIC STOPS]
He beat me for not being you.
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
I know he a bully...
...but there's some things
I love about him.
You still love him?
I got what you call a passion for him.
If l was ever going to have a husband,
he'd been it. But he weak.
Tell me the truth.
Do you mind if Albert sleep with me?
You Iike sleeping with him?
I have to confess, I love it. Don't you?
No.
No, most time I pretend l ain't even there.
He don't know the difference.
He don't never ask me how l feel.
He never ask me about myself.
He just cIimb on top of me
and do his business.
"Do his business"?
You sound like he going
to the toilet on you.
That's what it feel like.
Then, Miss Celie...
...that mean you still a virgin.
-Yeah, because don't nobody love me.
-I love you.
-You think I's ugly.
-No, I don't.
[IMITATES SHUG]
You ugly. You sure is ugly.
You still ugly.
Amen.
Oh, Miss Celie,
that was just the salt and sugar.
Me being jealous of you and Albert.
I think you beautiful.
[JINGLING]
CELIE:
Shug like honey...
...and now, l's just like a bee.
I's follow her everywhere,
want to go where she go.
What life like for her?
And why she sometime get so sad?
So sad, just like me.
PREACHER [SINGS]:
Tell her something
SHUG:
Hello.
How you been?
I been sick. Maybe you heard.
But l feels better now.
I been staying with Albert and Celie.
They been taking care of me.
Place bring back memories.
I used to stand right over there
watching you.
Best preacher in the world.
The way you'd make your voice
rise and fall when you turned a phrase.
The way you looked in your blue suit.
Girls cutting their eyes at you.
Oh, it's something to see.
You'd smile at us and say:
[IN DEEP VOICE]
"Ladies...
...'God Is Trying To Tell You Something',
if you please."
And we sang.
We sang our hearts out.
[SINGS] I couldn't sleep at night
And I was wondering why
It's all right.
I know you can't say nothing to me
anymore because things are so different.
Just thought I'd stop and say hello.
CELIE: Shug say she going back
to Memphis.
I'm gonna go with her. This is my
only chance to break from Mr. Jail.
What you doing?
Nothing.
It don't look like that to me.
SHUG:
Albert!
I need you to sit on my suitcase.
Albert!
[PLAYING]
-Good luck, baby.
SHUG: Aww. Ha, ha.
[CHATTERlNG]
MAN 1 :
Right, see you.
MAN 2: Right.
SHUG: Oh, yeah.
On your way.
SHUG:
There something you got to say?
What's the matter?
Cat got your tongue?
Don't be scared. Say it, girl.
I's going to miss you.
I's going to miss you too.
I'm going to miss you too.
Come on! Let's go! Ha, ha!
[CHATTERS]
ALBERT:
Hey, Shug! Write!
Do good in Chicago, Shug!
Oh, shit.
MILLIE: Honey, let me see you.
Look at you, you're so sweet.
MAYOR:
Millie, let's leave them folks alone.
MILLIE:
Look! Aren't they cute?
-Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor.
-Good to see you.
WOMAN:
How are you today?
Look at that! That's the cutest little face
I ever saw. Give me some sugar.
You are so sweet.
Say thank you now.
Millie, always going on over the coIored.
Your children are so clean.
Would you Iike to work for me?
Be my maid?
SOFIA:
Hell no.
What did you say?
Hell no.
What did she say?
Can't you pump that a little faster?
Gal, what did you say to Miss Millie?
I said, "Hell"--
[SMACKS]
No, Miss Sofia!
No, Miss Sofia! No!
[CHATTERlNG]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
I can't believe you did that!
Get my children out of here!
Take them home!
Get my children out of here!
Who do you think you are?
Don't touch me! Leave me alone!
Don't touch me!
Who do you think you are?
You fat nigger!
God, dear God! Sheriff, help me!
WARDEN: Howdy, mayor.
MAYOR: Howdy.
-How are you?
-Fine, thank you.
-How's the missus?
-She's doing real well.
Let's see what we have here.
Ohh! I'm driving!
I'm driving.
MAN:
Hey! Watch it!
Look, I'm driving!
Whoo! Isn't that fun?
CELIE: Dear God, after many years,
they let Sofia out of jail...
...just to put her in the next.
She ended up being
Miss Millie's maid after all.
Mayor bought Miss Millie a car,
and she had Sofia teach her how to drive.
Poor Sofia, stuck with Miss Millie
for the rest of her life.
-We went past the store.
-Top the H.
I've got it. Top of the H.
Here we go.
[CHUCKLES]
Oh, my. That was exciting, wasn't it?
Yes, ma'am, I reckon it was.
Well, let's do the shopping!
Sofia, l need apples, raisins,
cinnamon, currants, lemons...
...crackers, brown sugar, oranges,
nutmeg, flour, salt, pepper...
...cloves, eggs, and some candy
for the children.
[CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING
OVER PHONOGRAPH]
STORE CLERK: How are you today?
MILLIE: Nice to see you!
-Have a nice Christmas.
STORE CLERK: Same to you.
MILLIE: I've been wondering about
starting a fund for the colored children.
It's a little late this year.
I meant to talk
to some of the shopkeepers about it.
We could do one next year.
Set up a fund so they could have some toys
and some clothes, a toy or two.
I started taking driving lessons.
Did you see me out there?
-Sofia's been teaching me how to drive.
-That's wonderful.
Have you ever thought
about going to Mars?
I wonder what it's like.
They call it the red planet.
Does it look red?
MAN: How are you doing today?
-Good to see you. HelIo.
How do, Mr. Peters?
Look at me, I'm driving.
MAN:
Yes, ma'am.
Sofia, l'm gonna drive you
home tomorrow.
Did you hear what I said?
I'm gonna drive you home.
-Home?
-Yes, home.
You haven't seen your children
in a while.
No, I ain't seen them
in about eight years.
That's a shame.
Tomorrow's Christmas!
You can stay all day!
You can stay all day!
I wilI drive myself back.
[MOUTHS]
Thank you.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS
& PEOPLE CLAMOR]
That's your mama.
That's her.
Go on.
Hi, my name is Emma.
I'm very pleased to meet you.
[SOBBING]
CELIE:
Sofia back!
[CAR ENGlNE RATTLES]
-Sofia, I'll pick you up at 5:00.
-Yes, ma'am.
ALL:
Come on.
Oh, Miss Sofia,
it's so good to have you home.
[CHATTERlNG]
Oh, yes.
So good.
[SOFIA SNlFFLES]
Mama, why are you crying?
Because I don't know y'aIl no more.
[CHATTERlNG]
[GEARS GRIND]
WOMAN: This is going to be
a happy Christmas!
MILLIE: I can do it.
I can put it in reverse.
I can make it go the right way.
Come on. Ohh!
She can't get it out of reverse.
MAN:
Mrs. Millie! Whoa, whoa!
[SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]
Take off your coat.
[MEN SHOUTlNG]
[MILLIE SCREAMING]
Get away from me!
[SCREAMlNG INDISTINCTLY]
You get away from me!
Don't touch me!
-Don't you know who I am?
MAN 1 : Yes, ma'am.
-I've always been good to you people!
-We know that, ma'am.
Calm down.
-I am Miss Millie! I'm the mayor's wife!
MAN 2: Yes, ma'am.
I've always been good to you people!
I've always gone out of my way
for coloreds!
Yes, ma'am.
Miss Millie, what's the matter?
Those boys....
Those boys tried to attack me.
No such a thing.
[SOBS] How could you leave me alone
for so Iong?
SOFIA:
Come on now. Come on.
MILLIE: What am l gonna do
about the car?
SOFIA: Jack will drive you home,
Miss Millie.
I can't ride in a car
with some strange coIored man.
I'll ask my sister Odessa to squeeze in.
That way I have more time
with my children.
I don't know her either.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS]
ALL:
Goodbye!
[CAR HORN HONKS]
It's Shug.
-Shug.
-Heh. Hot diggidy-dog!
I'm coming, Shug!
-It's sugarbaby!
CELIE: Hey, Shug!
[ALBERT LAUGHS]
Hey, Shug!
SHUG:
Albert!
CELIE:
Hey, Shug--
Oh! Miss Celie!
I've heard so much about you!
Feels like we old friends!
[LAUGHS]
This is Grady.
This is my husband.
Us been driving all night.
No place to stop. But here us is!
Well, how are you?
We're fine.
Got colds though.
[BOTH SNIFFLE]
This here's my wedding present.
Brand new.
I want Albert to learn how to drive it.
Grady drive like a fool.
I thought the police would get us.
Us two married Iadies now.
Two married ladies, and hungry!
What us got to eat?
ALBERT: Yeah, you know, Grady,
we done had the best.
[CHUCKLlNG]
GRADY: It's true.
-Yeah, we done had the best.
You had her your way. I had her mine.
Ha-ha-ha-ha.
But we had her!
We had her!
Let's us drink to having some Shug.
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
I'll get my mail. I'm expecting
an agreement from Memphis.
You ought to wait for Mister.
If l was to wait for AIbert,
I'd wait till Christmas.
[ALBERT AND GRADY LAUGH]
SHUG:
I's married now!
I said l's married now.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[SHUG HUMMING]
[LAUGHlNG]
Well, let's toast it at somebody.
All the evil, and all the love.
I like you, boy!
GRADY:
I like you too!
Come upstairs with me.
I got to finish stuffing the turkey.
ALBERT:
You're my kind of man!
"April 1 8...
...1 935.
Dear Celie:
I know you think l'm dead...
...but l am not.
I've been writing to you over the years...
...but Albert said
you'd never hear from me again...
...and since I never heard from you
all this time...
...l guess he was right.
Now I only write
at Christmas and Easter...
...hoping my letters get lost among
the Christmas and Easter greetings...
...or that Albert get the holiday spirit
and have pity on us."
SHUG:
"There is so much to tell you...
...l hardly know where to begin.
And anyway,
you probably won't get this letter either.
I am sure Albert is still the only one...
...to take the mail out of the box.
But if this does not get to him...
...one thing I want you to know"....
"I Iove you...
...and I'm not dead.
I love you and l'm not dead.
"The lady you met in town
is named Corrine.
Her husband's named Samuel.
Sanctified, religious
and very good to me.
Their only sorrow in the beginning was...
...that they could not have children.
And then they say"....
"Then they say...
...God sent them Olivia...
...and Adam.
Yes, their children sent by God
are your children.
And they have been brought up in love.
And now God has sent me
to watch over them...
...to protect and cherish them...
...to lavish all the love
I feel for you on them.
BOTH:
It's a miracle, isn't it?
And no doubt impossible
for you to believe.
Olivia and Adam are with me...
...aIl growing up together...
...a family.
Your loving sister, Nettie."
I got two children...
...and they's alive.
Hear that, Miss Shug?
Olivia and Adam.
And they's alive.
ALBERT: I love her as much as you,
probably more.
[MEN CHATTERING]
[GASPS]
I's getting real tired of this cat.
He coming back soon.
You crazy? He in the jook joint.
SHUG:
This doesn't look nothing Iike me.
Damn him.
"Celie."
There's so many of them.
What us gonna do?
Go to my room and put them in order
by the postmark.
CELIE: "Dear Celie, the reason why
I am in Africa is because...
...one of the missionaries that was
supposed to go with Corrine and Samuel...
...to heIp with the children
and setting up the school...
...suddenly married a man,
and l came in her place."
NETTIE: I wrote a letter to you
almost every day on the ship.
On my first sight of the Africa coast...
...something struck in me, in my soul,
Celie, like a large bell.
I just vibrated.
It has been a long time
since I had time to write, but always...
...no matter what I'm doing,
I'm writing you. Dear--
ALBERT:
Celie! Bring me a cool drink.
[CLATTERlNG]
NETTIE: Olinka is four days march
through the bush from the harbor.
Do you know what a jungle is?
Trees and trees and then more trees
on top of that.
And big!
They are so big,
they look like they were built.
And vines and ferns
and animals and noises...
...that make you wonder
what is lurking behind the shadows...
...of every bush.
[ELEPHANT TRUMPETS]
NETTIE: We're up at 5:00 for a breakfast of
millet, porridge, fruit, then morning classes.
We teach the children English,
reading, writing...
...history, geography, arithmetic,
and the stories of the Bible.
The older children are used
to coming to the mission school.
The smaller ones are not.
Their mothers sometimes drag them here
screaming and kicking.
They're all boys. Olivia's the only girl.
There is a little African girl
called Tashi.
She plays with Olivia after school.
"Why can't Tashi come to school?"
she asks me.
I told her the Olinka don't believe
in educating girls.
She said, quick as a flash:
"Like white people at home
who don't want black people to learn."
She is sharp, Celie.
When Tashi can get away
from her chores her mother assigns her...
...she and Olivia hide in my hut.
To Olivia right now,
Tashi alone is Africa.
Everything she learns,
she shares with Tashi. Sound familiar?
[MAN SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
NETTIE: At first, there was the faintest
sound of movement in the forest.
A kind of low humming. Then there was
chopping and the sound of dragging.
Then the scent.
Some days there's smoke.
Now, after two months during which
I or the children...
...or Corrine has been sick...
...all we hear is chopping
and scraping and dragging.
And every day we smell smoke.
Today a boy in my afternoon class
burst out as he entered:
"The road approaches!"
CONGREGATION [SINGING]:
If you live right Heaven belongs to you
If you live right Heaven belongs to you
NETTIE: Dear Celie,
the white man is building a road.
It finally reached the cassava fields
nine months ago.
The morning after the road was done,
as far as Olinka was concerned...
...what should we discover,
but that the road builders were back.
They have instructions to continue
the road for another 30 miles...
...and continue it on its present course
right through the village of Olinka.
[MEN SHOUTlNG]
The road builders didn't deviate
an inch from the head man's plan.
Every hut that lay in the road's path
was leveled.
Celie, our church, our school...
...my hut...
...all went down in a matter of hours.
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
But the worst is yet to be told.
Sweet Corrine died from fever and grief.
We buried her in the Olinka way.
But, Celie, my dear, sweet sister...
...we'll all be coming home once we work
something out with U.S. lmmigration.
They don't know if we're American,
African, or missionary.
Just pray for us, Celie.
Watch for me in the sunset.
[CELIE GRUNTS]
ALBERT: What's with you?
I was calIing you for an hour!
Now get my shave
and don't keep me waiting!
CHILDREN:
Left, right! Left, right! Left, right!
-Where's Celie?
BOY: Home fixing to shave Mister.
You got a fever? I didn't come here
for you to take all day to shave me.
Get the molasses out of your ass!
The longer I'm married to you,
the slower and dumber you get.
Your ass is as slow
as l ever seen it before.
Celie! Ain't that razor sharpened yet?
Get on out here and do me right now!
Get on out here!
All right.
No!
Put your head back.
Cut my neck and I'll get you by the ears.
[YELLING lN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[WHOOPING]
That razor looks dulI to me, Miss Celie.
Damn women.
[CHATTERlNG]
SQUEAK:
How you feeling, Miss Sofia?
Confused.
HARPO:
Ain't you glad to be home?
Maybe.
BOY: Grandpa, I'm full.
I'm not hungry anymore.
-Now come the time for me to tell you.
-What?
It's time for us to go.
You're such good people.
Salt of the earth.
It's time to move on.
-CeIie is coming with us.
-Say what?
Celie is coming to Memphis with us.
Over my dead body!
You satisfied? That's what you want?
ALBERT:
Now what's wrong with you?
You a lowdown, dirty dog,
that's what's wrong.
It's time for me to get away from you
and enter Creation.
Your dead body be just the welcome mat
I need.
You can't talk to my boy that way.
Your boy.
If he hadn't been your boy,
he might have been a halfway decent man.
Say what?
You took my sister Nettie away from me.
You knew she was the only somebody
in the worId who loved me.
But Nettie and my kids
are coming home soon.
And when we all get together,
we're going to whup your ass.
[SQUEAK GIGGLING]
Nettie and your kids?
Woman, you talking crazy.
I got children.
My children are Iiving in Africa.
Africa!
Learning different languages.
Fresh air, plenty of exercise.
They'll turn out better than these fooIs
you never tried to raise.
-HoId on, here!
-No "hold on," Harpo.
If you hadn't tried to rule over Sofia,
white folks wouldn't have got her.
HARPO: That's a lie!
CELIE: A Iittle truth in it.
Y'all was rotten kids.
You was. You was rotten kids!
Made my life here hell.
Your daddy ain't nothing
but some dead horseshit.
[LAUGHlNG]
Shut up! It's bad luck for a woman
to laugh at a man!
[SOFIA LAUGHlNG]
My God, the dead has arisen.
SOFIA: I had enough bad luck
to keep me laughing the rest of my life.
Sat in that jail
till I near about done rot to death.
I know what it like, Miss Celie.
Want to go somewhere and can't.
I know what it like to want to sing
and have it beat out of you.
[CRYING]
I want to thank you, Miss Celie...
...for everything you done for me.
I remember the day I was in the store
with Miss Millie.
I was feeling real down.
I was feeling mighty bad.
And when I see'd you...
...l knowed there is a God.
I knowed there is a God, and one day
I was going to get to come home.
You won't get a penny of my money.
Not one thin dime!
Did I ever ask you for anything?
Did I ever ask you for anything?
I never asked you for nothing! Not even
for your sorry-ass hand in marriage!
Nothing. I never asked you for nothing!
[SOFIA LAUGHS]
Old Sofia home now. Sofia home.
Things are going to change around here.
I'm going with Shug.
-You going where?
SQUEAK: With Miss Celie and Shug.
I'm fixing to sing.
Too much racket going on in this house.
Pass me them peas.
-Listen, Squeak--
-My name ain't Squeak.
-What?
-My name is Mary Agnes.
-Mary what?
-Mary Agnes.
I thought it was Squeak.
Who gives a damn? Boy, you going
to let this nappy-haired gal sit here...
...and cuss you out?
You're at the head of your own table...
...and you acting like a waiter!
Hush, you old fool!
Always meddling in somebody's business.
Sofia home now. Just hush up!
She'll be back. Shug got talent.
She can sing.
She got spunk and can talk to anybody.
She can stand up and be noticed.
What you got?
You're ugly. You're skinny.
You're shaped funny.
You're too scared
to open your mouth to people.
-All you fit to do is be Shug's maid.
-[WHISPERS] Albert, no.
Take out her slop jar, maybe cook her food.
You ain't even that good a cook.
She's a lot better than that
first wife you married.
This house ain't been cIeaned good
since my first wife died.
Nobody's crazy enough to marry you.
So what you gonna do?
Hire yourself to farm?
Maybe somebody will let you
work on their railroad.
Maybe sweep out the caboose.
[LAUGHlNG]
Any more letters come?
Could be. Could be not. Who's to say?
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Celie, no!
I curse you! Until you do right by me...
...everything you think about
will crumble!
Don't do it. Don't trade places
with what I been through.
Come on, Miss Celie. Let's go to the car.
He ain't worth it.
Who you think you is?
You can't curse nobody. Look at you!
You're black, you're poor, you're ugIy,
you're a woman! You're nothing!
Until you do right by me,
everything you even think about gonna fail!
It's been a pleasure meeting all of you.
Goodbye.
SOFIA:
Glad I came back just in time.
We need some stability around here,
that's for sure.
I should have locked you up!
Just let you out to work!
The jail you planned for me
is the one you gonna rot in.
SHUG:
Celie, get in the car. Get in the car.
Everything you done to me...
...is already done to you.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS]
I'm poor, black.
I may even be ugly.
But dear God, I'm here!
I'm here!
Hey, you'll be back!
Ha-ha-ha!
What are you going to do?
You'll be back!
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
Hey, boy.
Boy, what's the matter
with you?
Hey, Pa.
This house is a wreck!
Been drinking.
You want some supper?
No, thank you.
I hear you been spending more time
at Harpo's and less in the fields.
I guess I just raised you wrong.
How's that, Pa?
How's that?
The fields are overgrown,
the animals ain't tended to...
...this house is a wreck.
And what you doing about it? Nothing.
Just sitting here drinking,
ruining your life.
My Iife's already ruined.
This house is dead.
There ain't no Shug, no chiIdren...
...no laughter and no life. Just me.
I ain't heard such nonsense in all my life.
Now listen to me.
I know just what you need.
We need you a woman.
Nice, little, young girl clean up the house,
iron your shirts--
-Bye, Pa.
-Clean up this house.
-Goodbye, Pa.
-You listen to what l say.
I ain't listening to you.
Goodbye, Pa! Bye!
Get yourself a young girI.
You heed your daddy's advice.
Get these chickens
back in the coop...
...before they Iay eggs all over the place.
[PHONOGRAPH PLAYING]
HARPO: It's time to go now.
Time to go home.
You know I don't want to dance.
I move good for an old man.
Come on, time to go.
Time to go now. Come on!
I got some Tennessee tobacco,
cured with whiskey.
You know I don't smoke.
Time to go!
That's right. Time to go now.
ALBERT:
Time to go.
[MISTER HUMMING]
[ALBERT CHUCKLES]
Time to go. Time to go.
Time to go.
Whoo!
It sure is nice...
...to see you two together again.
SOFIA:
Maybe you ought to see him home.
He gonna be just fine.
Just fine.
[CHORUS SINGING
GOSPEL HYMN]
CELIE:
Dear God, after all these years...
...the man I knew as my pa is dead.
But then, Nettie write
that my real daddy lynched.
My mama marry this dead man
two years after my real daddy dead.
My children, not my sister and brother.
Pa, not Pa.
You his wife?
WOMAN:
Yes, ma'am.
How'd he die?
On top of me.
Well, it's all yours now.
Yeah, but I still don't understand how.
Your real daddy owned this land
and the house and the store.
He left it to your mama.
When your mama died, it passed on
to you and your sister, Nettie.
He left me the money though.
Well, if you'll excuse us,
we got a train to catch.
[SQUEALS]
Ya-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha!
I ain't never figured I'd wear pants.
Not to mention the things Miss Celie made.
What you think?
Sofia, Sofia. That sure is a pretty name.
[SOFIA CHUCKLES]
Now let me see you. How can a pair
of pants that fits Sofia fit me?
Well, Harpo,
you just going to have to try them on.
It's just like my sign say:
"One size fit all."
Go in there, try them on and you'll see.
-Sure enough?
-Sure enough. Go on, now.
Make sure you close that curtain.
I don't want you showing Emma
all your business.
He ain't changed a lick.
I got this fabric from Washington.
I wanted to make you a pair of pants.
I don't know about no....
SOFIA: Harpo says I spend
too much money.
HARPO:
Miss Celie, you is a miracle!
SOFIA: Ho, ho, Harpo.
Where will you wear them britches?
-Nowhere.
SOFIA: I know you're not! Look at you!
CELIE: The more things change,
the more they stay the same.
Me and Shug, I smile.
But us still longing.
More than anything,
God love admiration.
You saying God is vain?
No, not vain.
Just wanting to share a good thing.
I think it pisses God off
if you walk by the color purple...
...in a field...
...and you don't notice it.
Are you saying it just want
to be loved like it say in the Bible?
Yeah, Celie.
Everything want to be loved.
Us sing and dance and holler...
...just trying to be loved.
Look at them trees.
Ever notice how trees do everything
to get attention that we do...
...except walk?
[LAUGHS]
Oh, Miss Celie, I feels Iike singing!
SHUG [SINGING]:
Sister, you've been on my mind
Oh, sister, we're two of a kind
So, sister, I'm keeping my eyes on you
I betcha think l don't know nothing
All of us been prodigal children
one time or another!
And it's possible for the Lord
to drive you home.
And he can drive you home to truth.
He can fix it for you if you trust him.
[WHISPERS] Let's sing
"God Is Trying To TeIl You Something."
CHORUS LEADER:
Sing "God Is Trying To Tell You Something."
[CHORUS CHATTERS]
[PIANO PLAYlNG]
[SINGING]
Yeah
Yeah
So let me tell you something
CHORUS:
Yeah
Yes, Lord
Ohh
Yeah
My soul
My soul says "yeah"
-If l were you l would say "yeah"
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
-Speak, Lord
WOMAN: Oh, speak, Lord
Speak to me
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
SHUG: Oh, speak, Lord
CHORUS: Speak to me
SHUG: Won't you speak to me
-I was so blind
CHORUS: Speak to me
-I was so lost
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
-Until you spoke to me
CHORUS: Speak to me
[CROWD CHATTERS]
Speak, Lord
Speak to me
SHUG: My soul
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
Oh, speak, Lord
Speak to me
CHORUS: Speak, my Lord
SHUG: Speak, my Lord
CHORUS: Speak to me
-Yeah, speak to me
CHORUS:
Speak, my Lord
-Ohh
CHORUS: Speak to me
-I love you, Lord
CHORUS: Speak, my Lord
Save my soul
SHUG: Yeah
CHORUS: Can't sleep at night
SHUG: And you wonder why
CHORUS: And you wonder why
Well, maybe God
Is trying to tell you something
-Oh, cry all night
CHORUS: Cry all night long
SHUG: Something's gone wrong
CHORUS: Something has gone wrong
SHUG: Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God
Is trying to tell you something
No, you can't sleep at--
-Night
CHORUS: Can't sleep at night
SHUG: No wonder why
CHORUS: And you wonder why
SHUG: Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God
ALL:
Is trying to tell you something
-Maybe
CHORUS: God is
-God
CHORUS: Trying
-Is trying
CHORUS: Tell you
-Tell you something
CHORUS: Maybe
SHUG: Maybe
CHORUS: God is
-God is
-Trying
-Trying
-Tell you something
-I hear you, Lord
-God is trying to tell you something
I hear you, Lord
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
-Maybe
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
-Right now
CHORUS: Right now
SHUG:
I wanna praise your name
-God is trying to tell you something
-I praise your name
-God is trying to tell you something
-Speak to me, Lord
-Maybe God is trying to tell you something
-Right now
-Right now, right now
-Oh, God
-God is trying to tell you something
WOMAN: Thank you, God
CHORUS:
God is trying to tell you something
WOMAN:
Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God is trying to tell you
Something right now
Right now
God is trying to tell you something
See, Daddy, sinners have soul too.
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
-Right now
-Right now
God is trying to tell you something
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
WOMAN: Right now
CHORUS: Right now
SHUG: I'm gonna praise your name
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
SHUG: I'll praise your name
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
SHUG:
Speak to me, Lord
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
SHUG:
You expecting anybody?
No. Probably just some peopIe
lost their way.
Nettie!
Celie!
CELIE:
Nettie!
[NETTIE CHUCKLES AND CRlES]
Hey, Nettie.
Celie!
This is your son, Adam.
Mama!
[SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
He says, "Welcome."
He says, "Greetings."
NETTIE: He says,
"This is the day of his dreams."
Yeah.
Celie. Come on.
This is Olivia.
Mama!
I want to know you, Mama.
My mother.
[OLIVIA SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
And, CeIie, Adam has a wife. Tashi.
Tashi. Come.
Tashi, this is my sister, Celie.
[TASHl SPEAKS
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
NETTIE & CELIE [SINGING]:
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada
[CHILDREN LAUGHlNG]
[SINGING] Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Celie! Nettie!
Come back to the house now.
Girls, your mama got supper.
Celie, you got the ugliest smile
this side of Creation.
[SOBBING AND SCREAMING]
Ain't you done yet?
[BABY CRYING]
A girl!
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]
No.
-I want it.
-Shh. Celie.
Nettie!
[CELIE SOBBlNG]
You better not tell nobody but God.
It'd kill your mama.
CELIE:
Dear God, I'm 1 4 years old.
I've always been a good girl.
Maybe you can give me a sign.
Let me know what's happening to me.
One day, my daddy come and say,
"You gonna do what your mama wouldn't."
Now, I got two children by my daddy.
A baby boy called Adam,
he took while l was sleeping...
...and a baby girl called Olivia...
...that he took right out of my arms.
Then my mama died...
...cussing and screaming...
...because her heart been broke.
Dear God, he act like
he can't stand me no more.
I don't think he killed my baby boy.
I heard he sold it
to a preacher and his wife.
I keep hoping
he'll find somebody to marry.
I seen him looking at my little sister.
She's scared.
But I say, "I'll take care of you,
with God's help."
BOY 1 : Come on! Push!
BOY 2: Hurry up! Hurry!
BOY 3: Come on, guys!
BOY 4: Hurry up!
BOY 5:
Shh! Shh!
CELIE: Dear God, he come home with a girl
from around the town called Gray.
She be almost my age,
but they getting married now.
My little sister, Nettie, has got
a man always looking at her.
His wife's dead. She was killed by her
boyfriend, coming home from church.
He got three children.
He seen Nettie in church.
Now every Sunday evening,
here come Mister.
PREACHER: lt is therefore not to be
entered into lightly or unadvisedly...
...but reverently and soberly
and in the fear of God. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we ask your blessing
on our brother, Harris!
Amen!
CONGREGATION:
Amen!
[MOOS]
I want to marry your Nettie.
I got to have somebody right now.
I got nobody to watch over
my young ones.
They be fighting and bleeding
and throwing up on the floor...
...whiIe I got a farm to run.
I'll take right good care of your Nettie.
I can't let you have Nettie.
She too young.
But l tell you what.
I can let you have CeIie.
She oldest and shouId marry first.
She ain't fresh,
but I expect you know that.
She's spoiled, twice.
Celie is ugly but she works hard,
and she can Iearn.
And God fixed her.
You can do what you like.
She won't make you feed or clothe it.
But Nettie, you flat out can't have.
Not now, not never.
Well, I ain't never Iooked
at the other one before.
Let me see her again.
PA:
Celie, Mister want another look at you.
Move up. He won't bite.
Turn around.
What you doing that for?
Your sister's thinking about marriage.
ALBERT: How come y'all standing
out here. What you waiting on?
-This here's your new mammy.
-She ain't my mammy.
[LAUGHlNG]
ALBERT:
Harpo! Come here!
Harpo! Get here! Come here, boy!
Come here. Come here.
Harpo! Don't you run from me, boy!
[RATTLING]
[ALBERT MOANING]
[ALBERT GRUNTS]
CELIE:
I don't cry.
I laid there thinking about Nettie
while he on top of me.
Wonder if she's safe.
Then I think about
that pretty woman in the picture.
I know what he doing to me,
he done to her.
And maybe she like it.
Jesus!
[SQUEAKING]
Harpo, didn't I tell you
to clean my saddle?
HARPO:
I did do it, Pa.
Look at the mold on the side.
Look at the dirt on it.
This don't look like it's cIean.
The new mule had it on. Joey, had it.
I couldn't get it from him.
-He was biting and kicking on it.
-Ow! Ow! Ow!
When's the last time
their hair was combed?
Not since their mammy did it.
Go clean my saddle.
I'll have to shave it off.
No, no, no.
It's bad Iuck to cut a woman's hair.
This'll take all day.
Shut up!
-I can't. It hurts her.
-Ow! Ow! Ow!
-Ahh!
ALBERT: Don't talk back to me.
You do what I tell you.
[MUFFLED YELLING]
CELIE:
Dear God, I seen my baby girl.
I know it was her.
She looked just like me and my daddy.
Like more us than us is ourself.
My little girl looks like
she fretting over something.
She got my eyes, just like they is today.
Like everything l see, she's seeing.
STORE CLERK:
How are you today?
Thank you.
[CHATTERlNG]
That's real pretty.
Yes. I'm making me
and my little girl a new dress.
Her daddy will be so pleased.
Who her daddy?
Mr. Samuel.
Mr. Samuel. Who he?
The reverend Mr. Samuel.
You want that cloth or not?
We got other customers.
Yes, sir. I want five yards, sir.
-You want something, gal?
-No, sir!
How long you had your little girI?
She be seven months on the fifteenth.
Can l hold her?
If you like.
Watch her head now. Be careful.
There you go.
CELIE:
I think she mine.
My heart say she mine.
But l don't know if she mine.
If she my baby, her name Olivia.
I stitch "Olivia" on all the seat
of her diapers.
I stitch a lot of little flowers
and stars too.
He took all the diapers when he took her.
What's her name?
Pauline.
But l calls her Olivia.
-Come on, sweetie. Come on.
-Olivia.
-Come on. Come on.
-Olivia.
Olivia.
Whys you calI her Olivia
when that ain't her name?
Don't she look Iike an Olivia to you?
Just look at those eyes.
Only somebody old
would have eyes like that.
So l caIl her Ole Livia.
[CHUCKLES]
Well, nice talking to you.
My husband's waiting.
You gonna buy anything or not, gal?
Whoa, whoa.
I thank you, sir.
-Give these to Mr. Johnson.
-Yes, sir.
Nettie!
Celie!
Nettie!
Celie!
[SQUEALS]
I'm so glad to see you!
I just couIdn't keep him off me.
Could l stay here with you?
Can Nettie stay with us for a spell?
ALBERT:
Sure. She be kin now.
What happened with you and Pa?
NETTIE:
I just couIdn't keep him off me.
He'd try everything.
You know how he is.
I ain't never going back there!
You hear what l say? I'd die first, CeIie.
CELIE:
Hush now!
Don't let them run over you.
Show them who's got the upper hand.
They got it.
You got to fight, Celie. You got to.
I don't know how to fight.
All I know how to do is stay alive.
You sure look pretty today, Nettie.
Celie, my boy be needing his supper.
Sure is a pretty dress you have on.
NETTIE: Oh, Nettie,
you have such nice skin...
...and such soft, beautiful hair.
[CELIE LAUGHS]
And you smell so good
when I sit close to you. And your teeth....
CELIE:
He talk about your teeth?
NETTIE:
Yeah, about how bright they shine.
[GIGGLING]
Celie! My boy wants supper. The kitchen
needs cleaning. The cow needs milking.
My shirt needs mending. My pants
need fixing. My shoes need shining.
My children need feeding.
And when you're tired...
...l'm gonna climb on top of you
and do my business...
...before you can say, "Amen."
You're gonna have to leave
here soon...
...before he make his move on you.
No.
What would I do if l couldn't talk to you?
CELIE:
We could write.
NETTIE: Can you read good?
-I can't say that l do.
NETTIE:
I'll go to school for both of us.
CELIE: We'Il both learn real hard
before he breaks us apart.
NETTIE:
Yes!
[LAUGHS]
-"Apples."
-Apples. A-P-P-L-E-S. Apples.
-Apples.
-Uh-huh.
"Iron."
-Iron. I-R-O-N. Iron.
-Iron.
CELIE:
Kettle. K-E-T-T-L-E.
Kettle. Uh-huh.
-Eggs. E-G-G-S. Eggs.
-Uh-huh.
-Shelf. S-H-E-L-F.
-Uh-huh.
-Honey. H-O-N-E-Y.
-Uh-huh.
Jar. J-A-R. Jar.
Window. W-I-N-D-O-W. Window.
-Uh-huh.
-H-A-I-R.
Yeah!
CELIE: A-R-M. Arm.
-Yes, Celie!
CELIE:
Sleeve. S-L-E-E-V-E. Sleeve.
NETTIE:
And these?
[GIGGLES]
Stocking.
What's it say, Celie?
Mister.
M-I-S-T-E-R period.
Ain't you got nothing better to do?
CELIE:
"For the next eight or ten months...
...Oliver was the vicient--
victim of a sesum"...
NETTIE: Systematic.
CELIE: What's "systematic" mean?
It be like when you have a way
of doing stuff the same way all the time.
Like how we hang the sheets
first so we can put the socks in the cracks.
Now us never be apart.
[CELIE YELPS]
Ahh!
[LAUGHlNG]
BOTH: [SINGlNG] Me and you
Us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us have one heart
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Keep my sister away from me
Makidada
[ALBERT CHUCKLES]
[ALBERT HUMMING]
ALBERT [SlNGS]:
Good morning
I got to go to school.
What you doing?
No! Please!
Please, please, please!
No! No! No!
No!
[NETTIE WHlMPERS
& ALBERT CHUCKLES]
[THUMP & ALBERT SCREAMS]
[NETTIE SCREAMING]
No! No! No!
[GRUNTS AND PANTS]
I'll get you!
Let her stay. Please let her stay.
I'll do anything for you! Let her stay!
-Now get the hell out of my house!
-Please let her stay!
Let her stay!
NETTIE:
No! No! No!
You ain't never coming back here!
-Get out of here!
-No!
No! No!
Get off my land!
[SCREAMS]
Get off my land!
You ain't welcome no more.
Celie!
KID 1 : What's he doing?
KID 2: Leave! We don't need to know.
CELIE: Nettie!
Please! No!
-Stop!
-Nettie!
Nettie!
Why?
Why? Why?
Why? Ahh!
-Write!
-What?
Write!
Nothing but death can keep me from her!
Please...
...don't go.
Celie!
[SINGING]
You and me, us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada
[SINGING lNCOHERENTLY]
Get off my land!
Nothing but death can keep me from her!
Nettie.
Two days. Heh.
My Shug gonna be here and everything
gonna be the way it should.
Come on, girl. I'm waiting for you.
You cut me and I'll kill you.
[BUZZES]
[LAUGHS]
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
Whoa. Whoa. Whoop, whoop.
Ahh!
The maiI.
Shug! Shug, l'm coming!
-Harpo, saddle my horse!
HARPO: Yes, sir!
Is there a Ietter from Nettie?
Ain't nothing for you.
I don't never want
you messing with that mailbox!
That's my business!
I fixed that mailbox so I can telI
if it be messed with! Understand?
-Harpo! Ain't you saddled that horse yet?
-Yes, sir!
I'm getting to it. I'm getting to it.
Celie, I'm going out for a spell,
and l want my supper when I get back!
Yes, sir.
[SNlFFLES]
"For the next eight...
...or ten...
...months...
...Oliver was the victim of a...
...systematic...
...course of treachery.
[IN DEEPER VOICE] For the next eight
or ten months...
...Oliver was the victim
of a systematic course...
...of treachery and deception."
He was brought up by hand.
The hungry and destitute situation
of the infant orphan was duly"--
ALBERT:
Celie!
Come help me get ready!
Come on! I'll be late!
You hear me call you?
-Yes, sir?
ALBERT: Celie, ain't that good comb...
...with my other brushes?
Harpo, ain't that horse saddled?
Yes, sir, Pa. Yes, sir.
I's getting to it. I's getting to it.
Georgie!
Too much grease.
Celie!
I don't use this kind of grease!
This grease for slopping hogs!
It ain't for no hair!
You gonna make me late!
I'm gonna get you if you make me late!
Where's my other bIack sock?
Where's my other bIack sock?
Oh, no! Oh!
-CeIie, don't forget to iron my shirt.
-Yes, sir.
ALBERT: Where's my black tie?
I mean the yellow one with black in it!
It's in there.
I don't see it!
Where's my suit pin?
-In the drawer.
-Is it on the shelf?
Uh-huh.
Is it the right side or the left side?
The left side?
The left.
Is this the right vest for my suit?
Shit.
Where's my blue--
Oh, here it is.
Which one?
The black one or the blue one?
I like the black one.
ALBERT:
Oh, no.
I hate this tie!
It don't go with nothing I got on!
I had a blue one....
Damn!
Hyah! Come on, come on. Hyah!
CELIE: She said she write,
but she never write.
She said only death
could keep her from me.
Maybe she dead.
[BARKING]
HARPO: Sofia, slow down!
Sofia, now slow down!
SOFIA: Harpo, I declare,
you is slow today!
CELIE: Dear God,
Harpo be in love with a girl called Sofia.
Now, she be a big girl.
Mister say he want to have a look at her.
I seen them coming way up the road.
They just be marching,
like going to war.
Pop, this here is Sofia.
Sofia is a pretty name, huh?
Sofia, Sofia, Sofia!
-Harpo.
-Us gonna get married.
Looks like you got yourself in trouble.
SOFIA:
I ain't in no trouble.
Big, though.
Who the daddy?
Harpo.
How does he know that?
He knows because he the only one!
Celie, get me some lemonade.
Young women no good these days.
Got their legs open for every Tom,
Dick and Harpo.
Don't think I'll let my boy marry you
just because you in the family way.
Ain't cold enough.
He young and limited. Pretty gal Iike you
could put anything over on him.
Why I need to marry Harpo?
He living here with you.
What food and cIothes he get,
you buy.
I know your daddy throwed you out.
Ready to live in the street.
No, sir, l ain't living in no streets.
I'm living with my sister
and her husband.
I can live with them
the rest of my life if I want to.
I don't need you to tell me how
to take care of me and my baby.
I can take care of my baby myself.
Nice visiting.
No, you stay right here, Harpo.
When you free,
me and the baby be waiting.
Well, look like somebody around here
know how to treat a visitor.
Harpo, don't you move one step.
Just don't make me wait too long, Harpo.
Harpo?
Harpo!
I won't! I will! I wiIl! I do.
KIDS:
I do!
I do.
PREACHER:
Now, Sofia.
Do you take this man to be your
lawful wedded husband?
To love, honor and cherish?
Forsaking all others for him alone...
...you will perform unto him
all duties owes to a husband...
...untiI death shaIl separate you?
I do!
You may now salute the bride.
CONGREGATION:
Amen!
[ORGAN MUSlC PLAYS
& PEOPLE CHATTER]
I's married now!
I's a married woman!
[INAUDIBLE WHlSPER]
I declare....
[CHATTERlNG]
SOFIA:
Come on, push now. Push now.
I been needing so many curtains,
but I ain't had time.
You children, get out of this yard.
Go on home!
Harpo, come on down here.
I need you to hold this baby.
I'm busy!
SOFIA: Busy making a racket.
Now come on down here!
Damn, Sofia! I'll come down
when I'm good and ready!
[GRUNTS]
I teIl you the truth! It is!
Child, we're going to get you
a littIe milk.
A little milk for the baby.
Yes, indeed.
Here. Go to your daddy.
What should I do with it?
Try feeding her, then fix up the mess
you done made here.
I can smell the rain coming.
Miss Celie, we got ourselves some
new curtains I want to put in the bedroom.
The living room
has already got itself some flowers.
What you looking at?
It's gonna rain on your head!
ALBERT:
You ever hit her?
No, sir.
How you expect her to mind?
Heh, heh.
Wives is like children.
You have to let them know
who got the upper hand.
Nothing can do it better
than a good beating.
Sofia thinks too much of herself.
Needs to be taken down a peg or two.
Got a new baby
and it cry all night long.
Kept him up so he said
he wasn't going to work.
She got all upset but l said,
"Leave the man alone.
Sometimes a man just needs
to be left alone."
I need something to eat!
Pie's in the pantry. Women need
to be left alone sometimes.
I teIl Harpo when I'm fussing,
"Leave me aIone!"
HARPO: Ain't you gonna get it for me?
-What's the matter with you?
[BABY CRYING]
That's my own baby crying. Lord.
Make yourself useful, Harpo.
Hush now, honey.
What am I gonna do about Sofia?
Beat her.
You told Harpo to beat me!
It was that mule, Old Joey.
Old Joey, the mule.
I was plowing the north field
and the mule went crazy.
He started kicking.
Busted my eye and my lip.
All my life I had to fight.
I had to fight my daddy,
I had to fight my uncles.
I had to fight my brothers.
Girl chiId ain't safe in a family of mens.
But l never thought I had to fight
in my own house!
I loves Harpo.
God knows I do.
But l'll kilI him dead
before I let him beat me!
-That's a hoof print.
-No, that look like a fist print.
No, sir. Ain't no fist touched my face.
No, sir.
You want a dead son-in-law, Miss Celie?
You keep on advising him
like you doing.
This life be over soon.
Heaven lasts always.
You shouId bash Mister's head open
and think about Heaven later.
[BABY CRYING
& HARPO WHlSTLING]
CELIE:
Sofia beat on Harpo.
Then Harpo beat on Sofia.
And then Sofia beat on Harpo
some more.
In between the beatings,
the children keep coming.
And then one day,
Sofia can't take it no more.
And good riddance!
CELIE:
Bye, CIarence!
Bye, Emma! Bye, Ruby!
Bye, Sofia! Bye!
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
Nettie.
ALBERT: Morning, Mr. HuntIey!
-Whoa.
Morning, Mr. Johnson.
I brung you some fresh-baked cookies
made in my stove!
-Thank you. They look good.
-Bring the plate back tomorrow.
Now giddyup! Giddyup!
Have a fine day, Mr. Huntley!
And keep the plate!
Anything come for me?
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[BARKS]
[MOOS]
[WHINNYING]
CELIE:
Dear God, today was a peculiar day.
I was sitting on the porch
reading to the kids...
...when all of a sudden,
something struck me.
I got up and looked at the sky.
It was dark
and there wasn't nothing moving.
I got down off the porch to see what
was coming. It felt like twister weather.
I didn't see nothing.
But I know something's there.
Yes, indeed, Lord.
I know something's coming.
[THUNDER CRASHES]
HARPO:
Pa! Who that, Pa? Who this?
Pa, who this?
The woman that shouId have been
your mammy.
Shug Avery?
Give me a hand and get her in the house.
Celie! Help me get her in the house.
Celie! Damn it! Get here!
Celie!
Hey, Celie! Get here!
Celie, this Shug Avery, a friend
of the family. Fix up the spare room.
CELIE:
I can't move.
I can't move. l need to see her eyes.
I feel that once l see her eyes,
my feet can let go...
...of where they're stuck.
You sure is ugly!
[LAUGHS]
Come on, now.
Turn loose my goddamn hand!
What's the matter with you? You crazy?
I don't need no weak Iittle boy...
...can't say no to his daddy,
hanging on me!
I need me a man! You hear?
A man!
[SHUG COUGHS AND WHEEZES]
And I don't want to smeIl
no goddamn stinking pipe, Albert!
Get that thing to make me
something to eat.
ALBERT:
No, no. I'll make it myself.
Albert?
Ahh! Shit!
[GROANS]
Eggs. SkiIlet.
Why you put the pots up here?
Nobody can get to them.
Butter, butter, butter.
It's in the cooler, on the shelf.
-Butter? Butter!
-Huh?
In the cooler, on the shelf.
Albert.
Ain't warm enough.
How do you work this stove?
Ain't hot enough.
Can't even keep a stove
burning good all day.
Can't even keep a oven hot!
You're useless sometimes!
Wood. Wood. Wood. Wood.
Ah.
Did you ever cook here?
It stiIl ain't hot enough!
I'll get it hot.
I'll show you how to make it hot.
Yeah.
[CANS BANGING AND RATTLING]
[FLAMES CRACKLE]
ALBERT:
Mm-mm!
Baby, look what l brought you.
Mm!
Baby, have I got a surprise for you.
This'll make you all well.
This got burnt, but the eggs
are just the way you like them.
SHUG:
Are you trying to kill me?
ALBERT:
No. Now, baby, don't be that way!
[DOOR SHUTS]
SHUG:
I toId you, I don't want nothing!
CELIE: I just stand back and wait to see
what the wall gonna look like.
See what kind of colors
Shug's gonna put on there now.
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
SHUG: What you staring at?
Never seen a naked woman before?
You got any children?
CELIE:
Yes, ma'am.
SHUG:
"Yes, ma'am"? l ain't that old.
Two.
Where they at?
I don't know.
Who are you?
Celie, ma'am.
[SHUG COUGHS]
You ain't well.
Mind your own goddamn business.
I feel just fine. Just had to eat.
Now, put some more bubbling oil
in this tub.
[SHUG CHUCKLES]
You got kids?
Yeah.
They with my ma and pa.
Never knowed a child to come out right
unless there's a man around.
Children...
...got to have a pa.
Your pa love you?
My pa loved me.
My pa still loves me...
...except he don't know it.
[CRYING]
He don't know it.
[SNlFFLES]
[CELIE HUMMlNG GOSPEL HYMN]
[SHUG HUMMING]
OLD MISTER:
Hey, boy! Here, boy!
Nobody here to greet your pa?
Sure ain't nobody in the fields,
that's for sure.
Just couldn't rest till you got her
in your house, couId you?
CELIE:
Cool drink?
Take your hat?
What is it with this Shug Avery?
She black as tar...
...nappy-headed....
She got Iegs like baseball bats.
Her own daddy won't have
nothing to do with her.
CELIE:
Old Mister talking trash about Shug.
Folks don't like nobody
being too proud or too free.
OLD MISTER:
She's no more than a jook-joint Jezebel.
She ain't even clean.
I hear she's got that
nasty women's disease.
You ain't got it in you to understand.
I love Shug Avery.
Always have, always will.
Should've married her when
I had a chance.
Yeah.
And throwed your life away. And a right
smart amount of money with it.
Plus, I hear all her children's
got different daddies.
It's all too trifling and confused.
All Shug's children got the same daddy.
I can vouch--
You can vouch for nothing!
Shug Avery done set the population
of Hartwell County a new high.
You just one of the roosters, boy.
Celie.
You has my sympathy.
Ain't many women's allow their
husband's whore to lay up in their house.
Celie.
Hand Pa his hat.
[BELCHES]
CELIE: Next time, l'll put
a little Shug Avery pee in his glass...
...and see how he like that.
CELIE: I ain't heard so much racket
since before Sofia left.
Every evening after he leave the field...
...he knocking down
and piling things up.
Sometime his friend Swain
come by to help.
Hey, Harpo!
Swain! Ahh!
CELIE: Two ofthem worked
long way past supper.
Mister have to call and tell them
to shut up the racket.
[PLAYING]
What you doing?
BuiIding a jook joint.
CELIE: Way back here?
-Yeah!
Jook joint's supposed to be
way back in the woods.
[CHATTERlNG]
HARPO:
You never seen this before.
-Now you close your eyes.
-Keep your eyes cIosed.
I know what a cow looks like.
You ain't never seen
a cow like this.
Yeah. Come on now! Come on.
BOTH:
Ready. One, two, three!
Ha, ha!
Look at that! Look at that!
[ALL LAUGHING]
[SWING MUSIC PLAYING
& PEOPLE CHATTERING]
Hey, welcome to Harpo's! I'm Harpo.
[SINGING] Yonder go yourpapa
Running down a field
Slipping and a sliding
Like an automobile
I hollered at Papa
And told him to wait
Slipped away from me
Like a Cadillac snake
'Cause he's the rottenest cheater
Girl, I'd drink your bath water!
Oh, sugar dumpling,
let me taste some! Aw, baby!
You can catch a fish
without a hook, girl.
SHUG: I like your uncle,
Like your brother too
I did like your pappy
But your pappy wouldn't do
I met your daddy
On the corner the other day
You know about that
That he was funny that way
Now he's a funny mistreater,
A robber and a cheater
Slip you in the dozens
Your pappy's, your cousin
And your mama do the Lordy, Lord
Now God made him an elephant
Made him stout
Wasn't satisfied till he made him a snout
Looks like Albert brought his maid.
Last time I saw that kind of hat
was at my mama's funeral.
SHUG: Wasn't satisfied until
He made him some eyes
Made him some eyes
Just to lose on the ground
Wasn't satisfied till he made his yes, yes
Made his yes, yes, yes
Whoo!
Wasn't satisfied till he made him sick
Made him sick, Lord
It made him well
You know about that
The elephant caught hell
'Cause he's a dirty mistreater
A robber and a cheater
Slip you in your dozens
Your papa's, your cousin
Mama, do the Lordy, Lord
Oh, Lordy, Lord!
[CROWD APPLAUDING]
PREACHER: There's only two kinds
of children in this world.
God's children and Satan's chiIdren.
Babylon ain't no far-off pIace
in the desert.
It's right here! Just a few hundred yards
from this holy pIace.
Whoo.
The song I'm about to sing...
...is called "Miss Celie's Blues."
[AUDIENCE CHUCKLES]
Because she scratched it
out of my head when I was aiIing.
[PLAYING]
[SHUG HUMMING]
Sister, you've been on my mind
Oh, sister, we're two of a kind
So sister
I'm keeping my eyes on you
I bet you think I don't know nothing
But singing the blues
Oh, sister, have I got news for you
I'm something
I hope you think
That you're something too
Oh, scuffling
I been up that lonesome road
And I seen a lot of suns going down
Oh, but trust me
No low life's gonna run me around
So let me tell you something, sister
Remember your name
No twister,
Gonna steal your stuff away
My sister
We sure ain't got a whole lot of time
So shake your shimmy, sister
[CROWD CHEERS AND WHISTLES]
Because honey this Shug
Is feeling fine
SOFIA: I know you don't beIieve it,
but I used to live here.
This used to be my living room.
That was my kitchen.
Harpo run the doors and windows
from the creek to here.
Now, somewhere is my dining room.
Lord, look at who's here. It's Miss Celie.
Miss Celie, it sure is good to see you.
PulI up a chair. Have a coId drink.
SOFIA: I believes I want me
some of this here.
I want to introduce y'all to my friend.
Henry Broadnax is his name.
Everybody call him Buster.
He's a good friend of the family.
How you doing? How you feel?
-Where are your children?
-At home. Where are yours?
BUSTER:
Lord have mercy!
[HARPO SCREAMS]
[SOFIA LAUGHlNG]
-Hey, Harpo.
SOFIA: Oh, Lord!
What you doing here?
I come to hear Miss Shug sing
and to see what a nice place you built.
This is scandalous!
A woman with children in a jook joint!
A woman need to have
a littIe fun, Harpo.
-A woman need to be at home.
-Hey, I don't fight my woman's battles.
My job is to love her
and take her where she want to go. Right?
That sure is, Buster.
Right, honey. You got it.
HARPO:
Let's dance.
First time l ever been knocked down
without throwing a punch.
[SOFIA CHUCKLES]
Be nice now.
-Be nice now.
-Ha, ha, ha. Yeah.
Harpo!
Who this woman?
You know who this is.
She best leave you alone.
Fine with me.
You ain't going nowhere.
This is my jook joint.
You said it's our jook joint!
Can't a man dance with his wife?
Not if she left him.
MAN:
Good night, y'all.
And not if he my man.
You just a big old heifer! Ha, ha, ha.
Like I said, fine with me.
CROWD:
Ohh.
Whoop. Time to go.
Ohh.
[SCREAMS]
-Sweetpea!
MAN: Hold on there! Hold on.
-Oh, shit!
-This is my place! Come on.
Get off my boy!
[GRUNTING AND CLAMORING]
What about me?
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
Come on, I don't want to have
to come in after you.
Lord, have mercy! Firemen ain't
gonna get it, somebody call the Iaw!
You can light a fire without a match.
You can catch a fish without a hook.
You can make a blind man see.
Oh!
Now do your shimmy.
Shake your shimmy, girl!
Come on! Show me your stuff!
[GIGGLES]
Oh, Celie.
Miss Celie, why you always
covering up your smile?
Show me some teeth.
Show me that pretty smile.
Oh, girl, you need
a smiling lesson.
[SINGING] Made him stout
Wasn't satisfied till I made him a snout
Made him a snout
Just as long as a rail
Wasn't satisfied
Till I made him a tail
Made him a tail
Just a--
You see, Miss Celie,
you gots a beautifuI smile.
Well, Miss CeIie,
I do believe it's time for me to go.
September. Yeah, September be
a good time to go off in the world.
What's the matter?
He beat me when you ain't here.
Who do?
Albert?
Mister.
Why he do that?
[MUSIC STOPS]
He beat me for not being you.
[BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING]
I know he a bully...
...but there's some things
I love about him.
You still love him?
I got what you call a passion for him.
If l was ever going to have a husband,
he'd been it. But he weak.
Tell me the truth.
Do you mind if Albert sleep with me?
You Iike sleeping with him?
I have to confess, I love it. Don't you?
No.
No, most time I pretend l ain't even there.
He don't know the difference.
He don't never ask me how l feel.
He never ask me about myself.
He just cIimb on top of me
and do his business.
"Do his business"?
You sound like he going
to the toilet on you.
That's what it feel like.
Then, Miss Celie...
...that mean you still a virgin.
-Yeah, because don't nobody love me.
-I love you.
-You think I's ugly.
-No, I don't.
[IMITATES SHUG]
You ugly. You sure is ugly.
You still ugly.
Amen.
Oh, Miss Celie,
that was just the salt and sugar.
Me being jealous of you and Albert.
I think you beautiful.
[JINGLING]
CELIE:
Shug like honey...
...and now, l's just like a bee.
I's follow her everywhere,
want to go where she go.
What life like for her?
And why she sometime get so sad?
So sad, just like me.
PREACHER [SINGS]:
Tell her something
SHUG:
Hello.
How you been?
I been sick. Maybe you heard.
But l feels better now.
I been staying with Albert and Celie.
They been taking care of me.
Place bring back memories.
I used to stand right over there
watching you.
Best preacher in the world.
The way you'd make your voice
rise and fall when you turned a phrase.
The way you looked in your blue suit.
Girls cutting their eyes at you.
Oh, it's something to see.
You'd smile at us and say:
[IN DEEP VOICE]
"Ladies...
...'God Is Trying To Tell You Something',
if you please."
And we sang.
We sang our hearts out.
[SINGS] I couldn't sleep at night
And I was wondering why
It's all right.
I know you can't say nothing to me
anymore because things are so different.
Just thought I'd stop and say hello.
CELIE: Shug say she going back
to Memphis.
I'm gonna go with her. This is my
only chance to break from Mr. Jail.
What you doing?
Nothing.
It don't look like that to me.
SHUG:
Albert!
I need you to sit on my suitcase.
Albert!
[PLAYING]
-Good luck, baby.
SHUG: Aww. Ha, ha.
[CHATTERlNG]
MAN 1 :
Right, see you.
MAN 2: Right.
SHUG: Oh, yeah.
On your way.
SHUG:
There something you got to say?
What's the matter?
Cat got your tongue?
Don't be scared. Say it, girl.
I's going to miss you.
I's going to miss you too.
I'm going to miss you too.
Come on! Let's go! Ha, ha!
[CHATTERS]
ALBERT:
Hey, Shug! Write!
Do good in Chicago, Shug!
Oh, shit.
MILLIE: Honey, let me see you.
Look at you, you're so sweet.
MAYOR:
Millie, let's leave them folks alone.
MILLIE:
Look! Aren't they cute?
-Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor.
-Good to see you.
WOMAN:
How are you today?
Look at that! That's the cutest little face
I ever saw. Give me some sugar.
You are so sweet.
Say thank you now.
Millie, always going on over the coIored.
Your children are so clean.
Would you Iike to work for me?
Be my maid?
SOFIA:
Hell no.
What did you say?
Hell no.
What did she say?
Can't you pump that a little faster?
Gal, what did you say to Miss Millie?
I said, "Hell"--
[SMACKS]
No, Miss Sofia!
No, Miss Sofia! No!
[CHATTERlNG]
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
I can't believe you did that!
Get my children out of here!
Take them home!
Get my children out of here!
Who do you think you are?
Don't touch me! Leave me alone!
Don't touch me!
Who do you think you are?
You fat nigger!
God, dear God! Sheriff, help me!
WARDEN: Howdy, mayor.
MAYOR: Howdy.
-How are you?
-Fine, thank you.
-How's the missus?
-She's doing real well.
Let's see what we have here.
Ohh! I'm driving!
I'm driving.
MAN:
Hey! Watch it!
Look, I'm driving!
Whoo! Isn't that fun?
CELIE: Dear God, after many years,
they let Sofia out of jail...
...just to put her in the next.
She ended up being
Miss Millie's maid after all.
Mayor bought Miss Millie a car,
and she had Sofia teach her how to drive.
Poor Sofia, stuck with Miss Millie
for the rest of her life.
-We went past the store.
-Top the H.
I've got it. Top of the H.
Here we go.
[CHUCKLES]
Oh, my. That was exciting, wasn't it?
Yes, ma'am, I reckon it was.
Well, let's do the shopping!
Sofia, l need apples, raisins,
cinnamon, currants, lemons...
...crackers, brown sugar, oranges,
nutmeg, flour, salt, pepper...
...cloves, eggs, and some candy
for the children.
[CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING
OVER PHONOGRAPH]
STORE CLERK: How are you today?
MILLIE: Nice to see you!
-Have a nice Christmas.
STORE CLERK: Same to you.
MILLIE: I've been wondering about
starting a fund for the colored children.
It's a little late this year.
I meant to talk
to some of the shopkeepers about it.
We could do one next year.
Set up a fund so they could have some toys
and some clothes, a toy or two.
I started taking driving lessons.
Did you see me out there?
-Sofia's been teaching me how to drive.
-That's wonderful.
Have you ever thought
about going to Mars?
I wonder what it's like.
They call it the red planet.
Does it look red?
MAN: How are you doing today?
-Good to see you. HelIo.
How do, Mr. Peters?
Look at me, I'm driving.
MAN:
Yes, ma'am.
Sofia, l'm gonna drive you
home tomorrow.
Did you hear what I said?
I'm gonna drive you home.
-Home?
-Yes, home.
You haven't seen your children
in a while.
No, I ain't seen them
in about eight years.
That's a shame.
Tomorrow's Christmas!
You can stay all day!
You can stay all day!
I wilI drive myself back.
[MOUTHS]
Thank you.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS
& PEOPLE CLAMOR]
That's your mama.
That's her.
Go on.
Hi, my name is Emma.
I'm very pleased to meet you.
[SOBBING]
CELIE:
Sofia back!
[CAR ENGlNE RATTLES]
-Sofia, I'll pick you up at 5:00.
-Yes, ma'am.
ALL:
Come on.
Oh, Miss Sofia,
it's so good to have you home.
[CHATTERlNG]
Oh, yes.
So good.
[SOFIA SNlFFLES]
Mama, why are you crying?
Because I don't know y'aIl no more.
[CHATTERlNG]
[GEARS GRIND]
WOMAN: This is going to be
a happy Christmas!
MILLIE: I can do it.
I can put it in reverse.
I can make it go the right way.
Come on. Ohh!
She can't get it out of reverse.
MAN:
Mrs. Millie! Whoa, whoa!
[SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]
Take off your coat.
[MEN SHOUTlNG]
[MILLIE SCREAMING]
Get away from me!
[SCREAMlNG INDISTINCTLY]
You get away from me!
Don't touch me!
-Don't you know who I am?
MAN 1 : Yes, ma'am.
-I've always been good to you people!
-We know that, ma'am.
Calm down.
-I am Miss Millie! I'm the mayor's wife!
MAN 2: Yes, ma'am.
I've always been good to you people!
I've always gone out of my way
for coloreds!
Yes, ma'am.
Miss Millie, what's the matter?
Those boys....
Those boys tried to attack me.
No such a thing.
[SOBS] How could you leave me alone
for so Iong?
SOFIA:
Come on now. Come on.
MILLIE: What am l gonna do
about the car?
SOFIA: Jack will drive you home,
Miss Millie.
I can't ride in a car
with some strange coIored man.
I'll ask my sister Odessa to squeeze in.
That way I have more time
with my children.
I don't know her either.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS]
ALL:
Goodbye!
[CAR HORN HONKS]
It's Shug.
-Shug.
-Heh. Hot diggidy-dog!
I'm coming, Shug!
-It's sugarbaby!
CELIE: Hey, Shug!
[ALBERT LAUGHS]
Hey, Shug!
SHUG:
Albert!
CELIE:
Hey, Shug--
Oh! Miss Celie!
I've heard so much about you!
Feels like we old friends!
[LAUGHS]
This is Grady.
This is my husband.
Us been driving all night.
No place to stop. But here us is!
Well, how are you?
We're fine.
Got colds though.
[BOTH SNIFFLE]
This here's my wedding present.
Brand new.
I want Albert to learn how to drive it.
Grady drive like a fool.
I thought the police would get us.
Us two married Iadies now.
Two married ladies, and hungry!
What us got to eat?
ALBERT: Yeah, you know, Grady,
we done had the best.
[CHUCKLlNG]
GRADY: It's true.
-Yeah, we done had the best.
You had her your way. I had her mine.
Ha-ha-ha-ha.
But we had her!
We had her!
Let's us drink to having some Shug.
[BELLS JINGLlNG]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
I'll get my mail. I'm expecting
an agreement from Memphis.
You ought to wait for Mister.
If l was to wait for AIbert,
I'd wait till Christmas.
[ALBERT AND GRADY LAUGH]
SHUG:
I's married now!
I said l's married now.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[SHUG HUMMING]
[LAUGHlNG]
Well, let's toast it at somebody.
All the evil, and all the love.
I like you, boy!
GRADY:
I like you too!
Come upstairs with me.
I got to finish stuffing the turkey.
ALBERT:
You're my kind of man!
"April 1 8...
...1 935.
Dear Celie:
I know you think l'm dead...
...but l am not.
I've been writing to you over the years...
...but Albert said
you'd never hear from me again...
...and since I never heard from you
all this time...
...l guess he was right.
Now I only write
at Christmas and Easter...
...hoping my letters get lost among
the Christmas and Easter greetings...
...or that Albert get the holiday spirit
and have pity on us."
SHUG:
"There is so much to tell you...
...l hardly know where to begin.
And anyway,
you probably won't get this letter either.
I am sure Albert is still the only one...
...to take the mail out of the box.
But if this does not get to him...
...one thing I want you to know"....
"I Iove you...
...and I'm not dead.
I love you and l'm not dead.
"The lady you met in town
is named Corrine.
Her husband's named Samuel.
Sanctified, religious
and very good to me.
Their only sorrow in the beginning was...
...that they could not have children.
And then they say"....
"Then they say...
...God sent them Olivia...
...and Adam.
Yes, their children sent by God
are your children.
And they have been brought up in love.
And now God has sent me
to watch over them...
...to protect and cherish them...
...to lavish all the love
I feel for you on them.
BOTH:
It's a miracle, isn't it?
And no doubt impossible
for you to believe.
Olivia and Adam are with me...
...aIl growing up together...
...a family.
Your loving sister, Nettie."
I got two children...
...and they's alive.
Hear that, Miss Shug?
Olivia and Adam.
And they's alive.
ALBERT: I love her as much as you,
probably more.
[MEN CHATTERING]
[GASPS]
I's getting real tired of this cat.
He coming back soon.
You crazy? He in the jook joint.
SHUG:
This doesn't look nothing Iike me.
Damn him.
"Celie."
There's so many of them.
What us gonna do?
Go to my room and put them in order
by the postmark.
CELIE: "Dear Celie, the reason why
I am in Africa is because...
...one of the missionaries that was
supposed to go with Corrine and Samuel...
...to heIp with the children
and setting up the school...
...suddenly married a man,
and l came in her place."
NETTIE: I wrote a letter to you
almost every day on the ship.
On my first sight of the Africa coast...
...something struck in me, in my soul,
Celie, like a large bell.
I just vibrated.
It has been a long time
since I had time to write, but always...
...no matter what I'm doing,
I'm writing you. Dear--
ALBERT:
Celie! Bring me a cool drink.
[CLATTERlNG]
NETTIE: Olinka is four days march
through the bush from the harbor.
Do you know what a jungle is?
Trees and trees and then more trees
on top of that.
And big!
They are so big,
they look like they were built.
And vines and ferns
and animals and noises...
...that make you wonder
what is lurking behind the shadows...
...of every bush.
[ELEPHANT TRUMPETS]
NETTIE: We're up at 5:00 for a breakfast of
millet, porridge, fruit, then morning classes.
We teach the children English,
reading, writing...
...history, geography, arithmetic,
and the stories of the Bible.
The older children are used
to coming to the mission school.
The smaller ones are not.
Their mothers sometimes drag them here
screaming and kicking.
They're all boys. Olivia's the only girl.
There is a little African girl
called Tashi.
She plays with Olivia after school.
"Why can't Tashi come to school?"
she asks me.
I told her the Olinka don't believe
in educating girls.
She said, quick as a flash:
"Like white people at home
who don't want black people to learn."
She is sharp, Celie.
When Tashi can get away
from her chores her mother assigns her...
...she and Olivia hide in my hut.
To Olivia right now,
Tashi alone is Africa.
Everything she learns,
she shares with Tashi. Sound familiar?
[MAN SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
NETTIE: At first, there was the faintest
sound of movement in the forest.
A kind of low humming. Then there was
chopping and the sound of dragging.
Then the scent.
Some days there's smoke.
Now, after two months during which
I or the children...
...or Corrine has been sick...
...all we hear is chopping
and scraping and dragging.
And every day we smell smoke.
Today a boy in my afternoon class
burst out as he entered:
"The road approaches!"
CONGREGATION [SINGING]:
If you live right Heaven belongs to you
If you live right Heaven belongs to you
NETTIE: Dear Celie,
the white man is building a road.
It finally reached the cassava fields
nine months ago.
The morning after the road was done,
as far as Olinka was concerned...
...what should we discover,
but that the road builders were back.
They have instructions to continue
the road for another 30 miles...
...and continue it on its present course
right through the village of Olinka.
[MEN SHOUTlNG]
The road builders didn't deviate
an inch from the head man's plan.
Every hut that lay in the road's path
was leveled.
Celie, our church, our school...
...my hut...
...all went down in a matter of hours.
[PEOPLE CLAMORING]
But the worst is yet to be told.
Sweet Corrine died from fever and grief.
We buried her in the Olinka way.
But, Celie, my dear, sweet sister...
...we'll all be coming home once we work
something out with U.S. lmmigration.
They don't know if we're American,
African, or missionary.
Just pray for us, Celie.
Watch for me in the sunset.
[CELIE GRUNTS]
ALBERT: What's with you?
I was calIing you for an hour!
Now get my shave
and don't keep me waiting!
CHILDREN:
Left, right! Left, right! Left, right!
-Where's Celie?
BOY: Home fixing to shave Mister.
You got a fever? I didn't come here
for you to take all day to shave me.
Get the molasses out of your ass!
The longer I'm married to you,
the slower and dumber you get.
Your ass is as slow
as l ever seen it before.
Celie! Ain't that razor sharpened yet?
Get on out here and do me right now!
Get on out here!
All right.
No!
Put your head back.
Cut my neck and I'll get you by the ears.
[YELLING lN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[WHOOPING]
That razor looks dulI to me, Miss Celie.
Damn women.
[CHATTERlNG]
SQUEAK:
How you feeling, Miss Sofia?
Confused.
HARPO:
Ain't you glad to be home?
Maybe.
BOY: Grandpa, I'm full.
I'm not hungry anymore.
-Now come the time for me to tell you.
-What?
It's time for us to go.
You're such good people.
Salt of the earth.
It's time to move on.
-CeIie is coming with us.
-Say what?
Celie is coming to Memphis with us.
Over my dead body!
You satisfied? That's what you want?
ALBERT:
Now what's wrong with you?
You a lowdown, dirty dog,
that's what's wrong.
It's time for me to get away from you
and enter Creation.
Your dead body be just the welcome mat
I need.
You can't talk to my boy that way.
Your boy.
If he hadn't been your boy,
he might have been a halfway decent man.
Say what?
You took my sister Nettie away from me.
You knew she was the only somebody
in the worId who loved me.
But Nettie and my kids
are coming home soon.
And when we all get together,
we're going to whup your ass.
[SQUEAK GIGGLING]
Nettie and your kids?
Woman, you talking crazy.
I got children.
My children are Iiving in Africa.
Africa!
Learning different languages.
Fresh air, plenty of exercise.
They'll turn out better than these fooIs
you never tried to raise.
-HoId on, here!
-No "hold on," Harpo.
If you hadn't tried to rule over Sofia,
white folks wouldn't have got her.
HARPO: That's a lie!
CELIE: A Iittle truth in it.
Y'all was rotten kids.
You was. You was rotten kids!
Made my life here hell.
Your daddy ain't nothing
but some dead horseshit.
[LAUGHlNG]
Shut up! It's bad luck for a woman
to laugh at a man!
[SOFIA LAUGHlNG]
My God, the dead has arisen.
SOFIA: I had enough bad luck
to keep me laughing the rest of my life.
Sat in that jail
till I near about done rot to death.
I know what it like, Miss Celie.
Want to go somewhere and can't.
I know what it like to want to sing
and have it beat out of you.
[CRYING]
I want to thank you, Miss Celie...
...for everything you done for me.
I remember the day I was in the store
with Miss Millie.
I was feeling real down.
I was feeling mighty bad.
And when I see'd you...
...l knowed there is a God.
I knowed there is a God, and one day
I was going to get to come home.
You won't get a penny of my money.
Not one thin dime!
Did I ever ask you for anything?
Did I ever ask you for anything?
I never asked you for nothing! Not even
for your sorry-ass hand in marriage!
Nothing. I never asked you for nothing!
[SOFIA LAUGHS]
Old Sofia home now. Sofia home.
Things are going to change around here.
I'm going with Shug.
-You going where?
SQUEAK: With Miss Celie and Shug.
I'm fixing to sing.
Too much racket going on in this house.
Pass me them peas.
-Listen, Squeak--
-My name ain't Squeak.
-What?
-My name is Mary Agnes.
-Mary what?
-Mary Agnes.
I thought it was Squeak.
Who gives a damn? Boy, you going
to let this nappy-haired gal sit here...
...and cuss you out?
You're at the head of your own table...
...and you acting like a waiter!
Hush, you old fool!
Always meddling in somebody's business.
Sofia home now. Just hush up!
She'll be back. Shug got talent.
She can sing.
She got spunk and can talk to anybody.
She can stand up and be noticed.
What you got?
You're ugly. You're skinny.
You're shaped funny.
You're too scared
to open your mouth to people.
-All you fit to do is be Shug's maid.
-[WHISPERS] Albert, no.
Take out her slop jar, maybe cook her food.
You ain't even that good a cook.
She's a lot better than that
first wife you married.
This house ain't been cIeaned good
since my first wife died.
Nobody's crazy enough to marry you.
So what you gonna do?
Hire yourself to farm?
Maybe somebody will let you
work on their railroad.
Maybe sweep out the caboose.
[LAUGHlNG]
Any more letters come?
Could be. Could be not. Who's to say?
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Celie, no!
I curse you! Until you do right by me...
...everything you think about
will crumble!
Don't do it. Don't trade places
with what I been through.
Come on, Miss Celie. Let's go to the car.
He ain't worth it.
Who you think you is?
You can't curse nobody. Look at you!
You're black, you're poor, you're ugIy,
you're a woman! You're nothing!
Until you do right by me,
everything you even think about gonna fail!
It's been a pleasure meeting all of you.
Goodbye.
SOFIA:
Glad I came back just in time.
We need some stability around here,
that's for sure.
I should have locked you up!
Just let you out to work!
The jail you planned for me
is the one you gonna rot in.
SHUG:
Celie, get in the car. Get in the car.
Everything you done to me...
...is already done to you.
[CAR ENGlNE REVS]
I'm poor, black.
I may even be ugly.
But dear God, I'm here!
I'm here!
Hey, you'll be back!
Ha-ha-ha!
What are you going to do?
You'll be back!
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
Hey, boy.
Boy, what's the matter
with you?
Hey, Pa.
This house is a wreck!
Been drinking.
You want some supper?
No, thank you.
I hear you been spending more time
at Harpo's and less in the fields.
I guess I just raised you wrong.
How's that, Pa?
How's that?
The fields are overgrown,
the animals ain't tended to...
...this house is a wreck.
And what you doing about it? Nothing.
Just sitting here drinking,
ruining your life.
My Iife's already ruined.
This house is dead.
There ain't no Shug, no chiIdren...
...no laughter and no life. Just me.
I ain't heard such nonsense in all my life.
Now listen to me.
I know just what you need.
We need you a woman.
Nice, little, young girl clean up the house,
iron your shirts--
-Bye, Pa.
-Clean up this house.
-Goodbye, Pa.
-You listen to what l say.
I ain't listening to you.
Goodbye, Pa! Bye!
Get yourself a young girI.
You heed your daddy's advice.
Get these chickens
back in the coop...
...before they Iay eggs all over the place.
[PHONOGRAPH PLAYING]
HARPO: It's time to go now.
Time to go home.
You know I don't want to dance.
I move good for an old man.
Come on, time to go.
Time to go now. Come on!
I got some Tennessee tobacco,
cured with whiskey.
You know I don't smoke.
Time to go!
That's right. Time to go now.
ALBERT:
Time to go.
[MISTER HUMMING]
[ALBERT CHUCKLES]
Time to go. Time to go.
Time to go.
Whoo!
It sure is nice...
...to see you two together again.
SOFIA:
Maybe you ought to see him home.
He gonna be just fine.
Just fine.
[CHORUS SINGING
GOSPEL HYMN]
CELIE:
Dear God, after all these years...
...the man I knew as my pa is dead.
But then, Nettie write
that my real daddy lynched.
My mama marry this dead man
two years after my real daddy dead.
My children, not my sister and brother.
Pa, not Pa.
You his wife?
WOMAN:
Yes, ma'am.
How'd he die?
On top of me.
Well, it's all yours now.
Yeah, but I still don't understand how.
Your real daddy owned this land
and the house and the store.
He left it to your mama.
When your mama died, it passed on
to you and your sister, Nettie.
He left me the money though.
Well, if you'll excuse us,
we got a train to catch.
[SQUEALS]
Ya-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha!
I ain't never figured I'd wear pants.
Not to mention the things Miss Celie made.
What you think?
Sofia, Sofia. That sure is a pretty name.
[SOFIA CHUCKLES]
Now let me see you. How can a pair
of pants that fits Sofia fit me?
Well, Harpo,
you just going to have to try them on.
It's just like my sign say:
"One size fit all."
Go in there, try them on and you'll see.
-Sure enough?
-Sure enough. Go on, now.
Make sure you close that curtain.
I don't want you showing Emma
all your business.
He ain't changed a lick.
I got this fabric from Washington.
I wanted to make you a pair of pants.
I don't know about no....
SOFIA: Harpo says I spend
too much money.
HARPO:
Miss Celie, you is a miracle!
SOFIA: Ho, ho, Harpo.
Where will you wear them britches?
-Nowhere.
SOFIA: I know you're not! Look at you!
CELIE: The more things change,
the more they stay the same.
Me and Shug, I smile.
But us still longing.
More than anything,
God love admiration.
You saying God is vain?
No, not vain.
Just wanting to share a good thing.
I think it pisses God off
if you walk by the color purple...
...in a field...
...and you don't notice it.
Are you saying it just want
to be loved like it say in the Bible?
Yeah, Celie.
Everything want to be loved.
Us sing and dance and holler...
...just trying to be loved.
Look at them trees.
Ever notice how trees do everything
to get attention that we do...
...except walk?
[LAUGHS]
Oh, Miss Celie, I feels Iike singing!
SHUG [SINGING]:
Sister, you've been on my mind
Oh, sister, we're two of a kind
So, sister, I'm keeping my eyes on you
I betcha think l don't know nothing
All of us been prodigal children
one time or another!
And it's possible for the Lord
to drive you home.
And he can drive you home to truth.
He can fix it for you if you trust him.
[WHISPERS] Let's sing
"God Is Trying To TeIl You Something."
CHORUS LEADER:
Sing "God Is Trying To Tell You Something."
[CHORUS CHATTERS]
[PIANO PLAYlNG]
[SINGING]
Yeah
Yeah
So let me tell you something
CHORUS:
Yeah
Yes, Lord
Ohh
Yeah
My soul
My soul says "yeah"
-If l were you l would say "yeah"
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
-Speak, Lord
WOMAN: Oh, speak, Lord
Speak to me
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
SHUG: Oh, speak, Lord
CHORUS: Speak to me
SHUG: Won't you speak to me
-I was so blind
CHORUS: Speak to me
-I was so lost
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
-Until you spoke to me
CHORUS: Speak to me
[CROWD CHATTERS]
Speak, Lord
Speak to me
SHUG: My soul
CHORUS: Speak, Lord
Oh, speak, Lord
Speak to me
CHORUS: Speak, my Lord
SHUG: Speak, my Lord
CHORUS: Speak to me
-Yeah, speak to me
CHORUS:
Speak, my Lord
-Ohh
CHORUS: Speak to me
-I love you, Lord
CHORUS: Speak, my Lord
Save my soul
SHUG: Yeah
CHORUS: Can't sleep at night
SHUG: And you wonder why
CHORUS: And you wonder why
Well, maybe God
Is trying to tell you something
-Oh, cry all night
CHORUS: Cry all night long
SHUG: Something's gone wrong
CHORUS: Something has gone wrong
SHUG: Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God
Is trying to tell you something
No, you can't sleep at--
-Night
CHORUS: Can't sleep at night
SHUG: No wonder why
CHORUS: And you wonder why
SHUG: Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God
ALL:
Is trying to tell you something
-Maybe
CHORUS: God is
-God
CHORUS: Trying
-Is trying
CHORUS: Tell you
-Tell you something
CHORUS: Maybe
SHUG: Maybe
CHORUS: God is
-God is
-Trying
-Trying
-Tell you something
-I hear you, Lord
-God is trying to tell you something
I hear you, Lord
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
-Maybe
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
-Right now
CHORUS: Right now
SHUG:
I wanna praise your name
-God is trying to tell you something
-I praise your name
-God is trying to tell you something
-Speak to me, Lord
-Maybe God is trying to tell you something
-Right now
-Right now, right now
-Oh, God
-God is trying to tell you something
WOMAN: Thank you, God
CHORUS:
God is trying to tell you something
WOMAN:
Maybe God
CHORUS: Maybe God is trying to tell you
Something right now
Right now
God is trying to tell you something
See, Daddy, sinners have soul too.
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
-Right now
-Right now
God is trying to tell you something
Maybe God is trying to tell you something
Right now
WOMAN: Right now
CHORUS: Right now
SHUG: I'm gonna praise your name
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
SHUG: I'll praise your name
CHORUS: God is trying to tell you something
SHUG:
Speak to me, Lord
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
SHUG:
You expecting anybody?
No. Probably just some peopIe
lost their way.
Nettie!
Celie!
CELIE:
Nettie!
[NETTIE CHUCKLES AND CRlES]
Hey, Nettie.
Celie!
This is your son, Adam.
Mama!
[SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
He says, "Welcome."
He says, "Greetings."
NETTIE: He says,
"This is the day of his dreams."
Yeah.
Celie. Come on.
This is Olivia.
Mama!
I want to know you, Mama.
My mother.
[OLIVIA SPEAKING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
And, CeIie, Adam has a wife. Tashi.
Tashi. Come.
Tashi, this is my sister, Celie.
[TASHl SPEAKS
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
NETTIE & CELIE [SINGING]:
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Me and you, us never part
Makidada
Ain't no ocean, ain't no sea
Makidada